One year into the pandemic, California is ranked the nation’s 20th best state for children – according to a new report from the nonprofit Save the Children. Researchers looked at the data on how many families experience hunger or poverty, or lack the tools for remote learning. Managing editor Tami Roleff has more information…
The data on hunger and children is troubling, according Will Dittmar, California state director for Save the Children.
“One out of five California households are reporting that they do not have enough food for their kids to eat. That’s 2-point-1 million kids in the Golden State.”
In addition to hunger, the report found that 10 percent of California families say they don’t have the right tools to get all their kids on Zoom classes every day. Fifty percent say they’re having trouble paying bills – a number that goes up to 65 percent for Black and Latino families. Tamara Sandberg is U-S food security and nutrition advisor for Save the Children. She says the pandemic has really widened the income gap for families of color.
“These families are twice as likely as white families to lack enough food, they’re twice as likely to be struggling with housing costs, and they’re about one-and-a-half times as likely to have difficulty paying bills.”
The new COVID stimulus bill contains provisions designed to cut childhood poverty rate in half. And the new Golden State Stimulus, approved in February, provides direct relief to low-income families and struggling businesses, and puts millions into state-subsidized childcare.
