economic inequality

California Divide

Lawmakers take aim at ‘punitive’ child support payback for low-income families

Critics have long argued that California's child support payback system for families using public assistance is overly punitive, disproportionately affects low-income people, and can drive a wedge between children and their parents. Now, two bills on Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk could change the system.

By

Erica Hellerstein

• September 30, 2019

California Divide

Food banks struggle to meet basic needs of LA County residents

Nonprofits distribute 80 million pounds of food in Los Angeles County per year, helping low-income people survive.

By

Jorge Macías

• September 27, 2019

A man folds his hands next to brochures for CalFresh

California Divide

Getting food stamps to poor Californians is surprisingly difficult

Pressure is increasing on counties to sign up more people for food stamps in a state with one of the nation’s lowest participation rates. But greater enrollment may require more money or more state intervention.

By

Jackie Botts

and

Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado

• September 2, 2019

Farmworkers and families wait in line at a monthly clandestine food distribution in Santa Cruz County.

California Divide

In Santa Cruz, a clandestine food bank draws hundreds of farmworkers

Farmworker families worried about immigration raids get food and household goods from a clandestine food bank.

By

Erica Hellerstein

• August 24, 2019

Antoinette Martinez does her weekly grocery shopping at FoodMaxx, and worries that new proposed Trump administration cuts to food stamp eligibility will make it harder for her to stretch her food budget. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

California Divide

“We’re not going to be able to survive:” Why Californians could bear the brunt of Trump food stamp cuts

A Trump administration proposal would cut food stamps to 3.1 million Americans—largely working families with high housing, childcare and medical costs. That could hit hard in California, a state where both the cost of living and the minimum wage are on the rise.

By

Jackie Botts

• July 29, 2019

A Bay Area woman fills out paperwork to show she is eligible for CalFresh, California's food stamp program.

California Divide

California’s struggle to get food stamps to the hungry

California, which has the nation's highest poverty rate, ranks near the bottom for participation in its food stamp program, CalFresh.

By

Jackie Botts

• July 18, 2019

A pair of worn out tennis shoes illustrate an all-too-common symptom of income inequality: child poverty. More than 27 percent of children in Santa Cruz county are in poverty, the second highest rate in California

California Divide

California’s child poverty hits coastal Bay Area

More than 27 percent of children in Santa Cruz county live in poverty, the second-highest rate in California. Wages are lower than they are on the other "side of the hill" in the high-cost Bay Area.

By

Erica Hellerstein

• July 16, 2019

Economic Inequality