XPost: alt.poverty, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: misc.survivalism   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   The economy is churning out mixed signals these days, with a flurry of   
   separate reports suggesting America is experiencing high growth and job   
   creation — and rising poverty.   
      
   But Carolyn Solar, who leads an Inland Empire food bank, isn’t confused.   
      
   “For us, the numbers sort of speak for themselves,” said Solar, chief   
   executive of Feeding America’s operations in Riverside and San Bernardino   
   counties.   
      
   Specifically, Solar was referring to the number of people served by her   
   agency’s Senior Mobile Pantry program, which takes free food directly to   
   people ages 60 and older. In January, the Mobile Pantry client list was   
   1,600; by September it was up to 2,300.   
      
   “It’s pretty clear,” Solar said. “Need is going up around here.”   
      
   In California, need is going up everywhere.   
      
   A report issued recently from the Public Policy Institute of California   
   concluded that from late 2021 through the first quarter of 2023 the state   
   poverty rate, including people of all ages and demographic profiles,   
   jumped from 11.7% to 13.2%.   
      
      
      
   That defies a trend in which poverty rates, in California and nationally,   
   fell during the pandemic. Economic forces throughout 2020 and much of 2021   
   played out in ways that weren’t expected, initially because of the layoffs   
   and rehiring sprees that happened during lockdowns and high case counts,   
   and later as federal and state relief efforts helped some lower-wage   
   workers and others stave off homelessness.   
      
   Though California’s new poverty rate is well below the pre-pandemic rate   
   (16.4% in 2019) economists and others suggested the swift upturn found in   
   the PPIC report is troubling.   
      
   “What we’re seeing now is people who are working but still struggling.   
   It’s a combination of people having better jobs, sure, but it’s also the   
   expiration or reduction of a lot of the safety-net policies we had during   
   the pandemic,” said Caroline Danielsen, a senior fellow at the PPIC and   
   co-author of the report “Who’s in Poverty in California,” which was issued   
   earlier this month.   
      
   “The (safety net) programs we created during the pandemic, like the child   
   tax credit and expansion of food assistance, really did more to support   
   families than anything we’ve seen in recent times,” she added.   
      
   Danielsen was commenting on Thursday, Oct. 26, the same day the Commerce   
   Department issued a report saying the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 4.9%   
   during the third quarter, one of the more robust non-pandemic quarters in   
   at least a decade. Other reports – about job creation and declining   
   (though stubborn) inflation – suggest those forces in the economy also are   
   strong.   
      
   Danielsen acknowledged that such factors can stave off poverty, but said   
   simply that the economic issues nudging people into poverty – fuel costs,   
   painfully high rents, less food assistance – are even stronger.   
      
   The PPIC report, conducted with researchers from Stanford, uses a formula   
   that measures income in a specific area against the costs of necessities,   
   including housing and food, in that same area. Based on that, the report   
   noted that Latino and Black residents, and recent immigrants, are more   
   likely than Asian and White residents to earn an income that qualifies as   
   “poor.”   
      
   But the report also broke down poverty rates based on age and even   
   geography. Within that framework, in the region that includes Los Angeles,   
   Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, poverty is highest in two   
   groups – older people, age 65 and up, and children, age 17 and younger –   
   who live in otherwise high-income communities.   
      
   “We do help a lot of older people,” said Solar, who helps feed people in   
   the Inland Empire. “But it feels like we’re seeing everybody right now;   
   everyday people, educated people, people with jobs. Everybody.”   
      
   The PPIC report offered some findings that defy long-held perceptions   
   about where poor people and wealthy people live, including:   
      
   • Los Angeles County, a place with Malibu and $44 salads and one of the   
   nation’s biggest skid row districts, has the highest poverty rate (15.5%)   
   of any county in Southern California and is third in the state after Yolo   
   (19.5%) and Santa Barbara (16.9%) counties.   
      
   • The poverty rate in Orange County, with well-coiffed beach towns and the   
   region’s highest home prices, is 14.5%.   
      
   Meanwhile, two counties long viewed as less economically glitzy –   
   Riverside (11.8%) and San Bernardino (11.7%) – have strikingly lower   
   poverty rates of than their supposedly wealthier neighbors. In fact, when   
   taking into account the comparative costs of housing and other essentials,   
   the incomes that qualify as “poor” according to the PPIC suggest living in   
   the Inland Empire is about 25% less expensive than in counties closer to   
   the ocean.   
      
   Danielsen said the Southern California findings reflect national patterns,   
   with coastal states often having higher poverty rates – when the   
   measurement is based on local incomes and local expenses – than non-   
   coastal states.   
      
   “Depending on which year you’re talking about, California usually is   
   either the state with the highest poverty rate or in the top three, at   
   least when you take into account incomes versus the state’s standard of   
   living and the safety net ratings,” Danielsen said.   
      
   “We’re a high-wealth state, and also a high-poverty state, unfortunately.”   
      
   One finding in the PPIC poll that might push poverty rates higher in the   
   future is the level of economic desperation among older people. People age   
   65 and older, statewide, are the age group most likely to be poor in   
   California. They’re also the one age group that’s expected to grow over   
   the next three decades.   
      
   Today, older people account for about 17% of California’s population. But   
   with birthrates falling and people living longer, the elder share of the   
   overall population is expected to be closer to 25% by the late 2040s.   
      
   If other economic trends hold, that surge of older people also could mean   
   a long-term surge in poverty.   
      
   In all four local counties, the average Social Security check (about   
   $1,830 a month, according to federal data) falls below or barely covers   
   the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment. Though there isn’t data on   
   how much locals rely on Social Security, national data shows Social   
   Security checks represent more than half the monthly income of about 37%   
   of men and 42% of women age 65 and older.   
      
   “It’s probably a bit of a harbinger,” Danielsen said, referring to PPIC’s   
   findings related to older people living in poverty.   
      
   In some ways, older people already are struggling in Southern California,   
   whether or not they currently qualify as “poor.”   
      
   A key reason is the high cost of keeping a roof over one’s head,   
   particularly for renters.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)