Definition: Estimated percentage of children ages 0-17 living in families with resources below their California Poverty Measure (CPM) threshold, by employment status of oldest person in family (e.g., in the first quarter of 2023, among California children in families in which the oldest person was unemployed, 29.8% lived in poverty, according to the CPM).
Data Source: Public Policy Institute of California & Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, California Poverty Measure (Aug. 2024).
Footnote: Data for 2021 Q4 and later are one-year estimates beginning from a reference quarter—e.g., 2023 Q1 refers to the first quarter (January–March) of 2023. Data for 2017–2019 and earlier are three-year estimates. Due to changes in methodology, caution should be taken when comparing 2021 Q4 and later estimates with data for 2017–2019 and earlier years; see the technical appendices for detailed information. The California Poverty Measure (CPM) is an approach to gauging poverty in California that accounts for geographic differences in the cost of living, factors in tax credits and in-kind assistance that augment family resources, and subtracts medical, commuting, and child care expenses. In CPM estimates, a family consists of a householder residing with their spouse, children, and other relatives, along with their unmarried partner, unmarried partner's children, foster children, and other unrelated children. A person is unemployed if they are age 16 or older, available to start a job, and actively looking for work. People not in the workforce are those who are neither employed nor unemployed; this category consists mainly of students, homemakers, retirees, seasonal workers in an off season, institutionalized people, and those doing only incidental unpaid family work.
