POVERTY ON RISE IN SAN DIEGO

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By Miriam Raftery

September 19, 2016 (San Diego) -- The Census Bureau recently decided to double the official federal poverty level for cities with high costs of living, such as San Diego.  Under the new calculations, nearly a third (31%) of all households in the city of San Diego are now living in poverty.

Almost one in five children in San Diego are in families below the new poverty line, as are 32.3 percent of families headed by a single parent.

Under the old calculations,15.6 Percent of San Diegans would fall below the poverty line, which is just over $12,000 for a single person and about $24,000 for a family of four—incomes so low that these households would be struggling to survive even in the poorest areas of the nation, such as Alabama or Mississippi, says Center for Policy Initiatives Director Kyra Green, Times of San Diego reports.

“Incomes this low make surviving in a high cost city like San Diego extremely challenging,” Greene concludes. “Families have to make impossible choices and sacrifices just to survive.”

Data is not yet available on which East County cities if any would be considered high enough in cost of living to be measured until the newly raised poverty threshold.

However, Voice of San Diego has reported that in 2015, roughly a fourth of El Cajon households—nearly 25%--fell below even the old poverty line.  Some rural communities likely have even higher pockets of poverty, such as Boulevard, where a planning official has said over half the children in public schools qualify for federal school lunch subsidies due to low household incomes.

So what are the solutions? More affordable housing, better paying jobs and job training are factors that could make a difference in turning around poverty rates in our region.


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