Employment

  • As California’s total unemployment rate exceeds 12%, fifteen counties have unemployment rates at or above 15%. In October of 2010, Imperial County unemployment was a shocking 29.3% (almost one in three), while Yuba and Sutter Counties follow with rate of 17.8%.

    Employment Development Department for the State of California. (2010). Monthly Labor Force Data for Counties, October 2010- Preliminary [Report 400C].
    http://www.calmis.ca.gov/file/lfmonth/countyur-400c.pdf

  • With the exception of Asian Americans (5.2%), minorities in California experienced significantly higher unemployment rates (7.8-12.2%) than Whites (5%) in 2000.

    California Employment Development Department. California labor force status. Retrieved from: http://www.calmis.ca.gov/htmlfile/subject/demoaa.htm

  • For the last 3 years, unemployment levels in California have consistently remained 1.2 – 2.8 percent above the national average.

    California Development Department. 3-year trend in California and the US. Retrieved from: http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/

  • In 2006, immigrants constituted 37% of California’s workforce whereas immigrants amounted to only 16% of the national workforce.

    Public Policy Institute of California. (2008). Immigrants and the labor market. Retrieved from http://www.ppic.org/main/policyarea.asp?i=3

Education

  • California’s Central Valley has some of the lowest education levels in the state. “In 2000, only 14 percent of San Joaquin Valley adults (age 25 and older) were college graduates, compared to 28 percent in the rest of the state.”

    Public Policy Institute of California. (2006). Just the facts: California’s central valley. Retrieved from http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/jtf/JTF_CentralValleyJTF.pdf

  • Of the California students in the Class of 2008, 13% more females than males graduated high school, 40% more females than males graduated A-G eligible, and 45% more females than males enrolled at a CSU or UC. 

    UCLA/IDEA. (2010). http://idea.gseis.ucla.edu/newsroom/idea-news/nov.-12-californias-gender-gaps

  • Independent studies estimate that 71% of California’s students are graduating from high school, although only 45% of Native Americans, 56% of African Americans, and 60% of Latinos are graduating.

    EdVoice. (2009). http://www.edvoice.org/Default.aspx?tabid=65

    Landsberg, M. (2006). L.A. Mayor Sees Dropout Rate as ‘Civil Rights Issue.’ Los Angeles Times.  March 2, 2006

  • By 2013, $8.7 billion dollars will be needed for the construction of new K-12 school facilities to accommodate California’s growing school age population—though only $1.4 billion dollars of state funds are available to cover these costs.

    Public Policy Institute of California. (2009). Just the facts: Education facilities. Retrieved from http://www.ppic.org/main/policyarea.asp?i=2

Health

  • A UC Davis study published in 2010 statistically proves a correlation between obesity and poverty-level wages.

    Kim, D., Leigh, J. P. (2010). Estimating the Effects of Wages on Obesity. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 52(5), 495-500.

  • “Older adults in rural areas are more often overweight or obese (61.3 percent) than their urban (57.3 percent) and suburban (54.0 percent) counterparts.”

    Durazo, E., et al.  (2011). The health status and unique health challenges of rural older adults in California. Health Policy Brief. UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Retrieved from: http://www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu/NewsReleaseDetails.aspx?id=86

  • In 2007, “only 42 percent of California teens report[ed] participating in Physical Education on a daily basis. And more than 80 percent of all teens failed to meet the current federal recommendations for physical activity.

    Allison L. Diamant, Susan H. Babey and Joelle Wolstein (2011). Adolescent Physical Education and Physical Activity in California. UCLA center for health policy research. http://www.chis.ucla.edu/release.asp?id=84

  • Los Angeles alone accounts for more than 1 in 5 of the nation’s neighborhoods that host toxic facilities where people of color predominate.

    London, J.K., Sze, J., & Li’evanos, R.S. (2008). Problems, Promise, Progress, and Perils: Critical Reflections on Environmental Justice Policy Implementation in California. UCLA Journal of Environmental Law & Policy. 26(2): 1-X.

Nutrition

Environment

  • “More than 60 percent of all native fish species in California are extinct, endangered, or declining in population and more than 90 percent of riparian and wetland habitat is gone.”

    Sierra Club, http://www.sierraclub.org/ca/water/index.asp

  • “88 million pounds of pesticides and toxic chemicals flow into the Bay each year.”

    Sierra Club, http://www.sierraclub.org/ca/water/index.asp

  • Groundwater levels in the San Joaquin Valley of California are at a historic low.  20% of the groundwater pumped in the U.S. comes from the Central Valley.  “The U.S. Geological Survey study found that the valley has lost 60 million acre-feet of ground water since 1961 – enough to supply every California household for 10 years.  The study also reports that groundwater pumping continues to cause the valley floor to sink.  The California Aqueduct, which delivers drinking water to more than 20 million people, is among many structures threatened by the sinking.”

    Dairy Herd Management, July 28, 2009, California Water Crisis Compounded. Retrieved from http://www.dairyherd.com/news_editorial.asp?pgID=675&ed_id=9106

  • “Over eighty percent of the people in California live in an area that is out of attainment with one of the federal air quality standards.”

    Bedsworth, L. (2010). Climate change challenges: vehicle emissions and public health in California. Public Policy Institute of California. Retrieved from http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=756>

Housing

  • In 2008, Only 44% of Californian households could afford the median-priced, entry-level home.

    Wiener, R. &Rutherford, D. (2009). Developing a regional affordable housing strategy: A look at California's housing challenges and ingredients needed for a successful regional Strategy. Center for Regional Change (CRC) White Papers. Retrieved from http://regionalchange.ucdavis.edu/publications

  • Eight of California’s metropolitan areas are among the nation’s 20 areas with the highest rates of home foreclosure.

    Sacramento Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2010/07/26/daily48.html

  • “California ranks dead last in affordability with an estimated 57% of renters not earning sufficient income to afford a two-bedroom unit at the metropolitan Fair Market Rent (FMR) paying no more than 30% of gross income.”

    Wiener, R. & Rutherford, D. (2009). Developing a regional affordable housing strategy: A look at California's housing challenges and ingredients needed for a successful regional Strategy. Center for Regional Change (CRC) White Papers, p. 6. Retrieved from http://regionalchange.ucdavis.edu/publications

  • About 1/3 of households must spend 30% or more of their income on housing costs, and 1/8 spend nearly half their income on housing.

    Drew, R. (2005). A Reality Check for Housing Affordability Advocates. Shelterforce Online, 142. National Housing Institute. Retrieved from http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/142/reality.html

Economy

  • "More than 10 percent of California women live in poverty. One in eight California women are poor, compared to one in 10 California men."

    Public Policy Institute of California. (2004). The economic status of women in California. Retrieved from http://www.ppic.org/main/policyarea.asp?i=3

  • Many of California's top agricultural counties also have the highest poverty rates in the state. In 2007, six of California's top ten leading agricultural counties were also in the top fifteen counties with the highest levels of poverty. More specifically, the second most productive agricultural county in 2007, Tulare County, had the second highest poverty rate in the state, with 24% of its population living in poverty.

    California Department of Agriculture. (2009). California Agricultural Resource Directory (2008-2009). Table: County Rank by Gross Value of Agricultural Production, 2006-2007. Pg. 34

    Public Policy Institute of California. (2009). Just the Facts: Poverty  in California.

  • In 2004, California's child poverty rates among Latinos and African Americans (23.6% and 28.5%, respectively) were more than three times higher than the child poverty rate among whites (7.5%).

    Public Policy Institute of California. (2004). Child poverty in California. Retrieved from http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/jtf/JTF_ChildPovertyJTF.pdf

  • "California's credit rating is the lowest of all 50 states."

    Public Policy Institute of California. (2010). California's state budge. Retrieved from http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/jtf/JTF_BudgetJTF.pdf

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CCREC is a multi/transdisciplinary and collaborative effort to address the state’s interconnected crises in the economy, education, employment, environment, health, housing, and nutrition.

Today more than ever, Californians are challenged with uncertainties about how to house and feed themselves; live healthy and fulfilled lives; educate themselves and their children; prepare for a rapidly changing job market; and care for their communities and environment in ways that sustain the possibility for a good quality of life.

CCREC sees these challenges as inextricably linked and requiring innovative relationships among researchers, community organizations, and policy makers in order to understand and solve the problems of our communities

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