In summary
A new report found that racial inequality was prominent throughout California. Proponents hope that the 2022 state budget will provide some solutions.
California is a contrasting state. On the one hand, it’s as high as a $ 31 billion budget surplus from rich profits, allowing you to spend record amounts on school and medical care. Meanwhile, new research reveals that despite the progressive tax system, serious racial inequality remains.
According to the study “Portrait of California by Measures of America”, the average life expectancy of Native Americans is 67 years, a decrease of more than 7 years from 2012. Black youth work more than twice as many as white youth in the years after graduating from school and high school. And in the city of San Jose, Latin Americans earn $ 0.46 for every $ 1 a white worker earns.
“These inequality do not come from nowhere, but are the result of policy choices,” said Laura Raiderman, lead statistician for Measures in the United States, a project of the Social Sciences Research Council.
She partially mentioned the segregation and redlining that prevented the minority community from borrowing bank loans and accessing quality education. “That means you can choose different policies that lead to different results.”
California’s Democratic budget vision calls for increased spending on social programs, education, and health care, but based on survey results, the state should specifically target people left out of society. Claims.
Policy experts expect Governor Gavin Newsom to add $ 300 million for public health to the budget he proposes to Congress in early January. With this funding, the county may establish a health inequalities agency to identify and address specific racial inequalities in the region and to provide additional funding through state grants. Several counties, including Orange and Alameda, are already implementing health inequalities programs for racial inequality.
“These inequality do not come from nowhere, but are the result of policy choices. That is, we can choose different policies that lead to different outcomes.”
Laura Ladderman, Chief Statistician of Measures of America
The authors of the study have broken away from standard measures of economic success such as gross domestic product and unemployment rate. Instead, they used the American Human Development Index. It assesses the level of education, life expectancy, and income of different populations and assigns a score from 1 to 10 indicating that the group has access to a “freely chosen and valuable life.”
Typical Californians rank higher than the average American in the index, but there is wide disparity within the state. The top 1% of Californians score 9 or higher, and more than 30% of the population score less than 5, lower than the average American.
Researchers also categorized life expectancy, education, and income by race. Whites and Asian Californians can live up to 78 years of age, but the life expectancy of Latin Americans and Native Americans is at least three years behind. Life expectancy for both Native Americans and blacks has declined since 2012, and life expectancy for blacks has fallen from 1.5 years to 74 years.
Democrats in the State Senate and Parliament are existing safety nets that indirectly address inequality, such as CalWORKs, a state welfare-to-labor program, and Medicaid, a Medicaid program for the poor in the state. We are proposing to strengthen the program.
The Democratic Party aims to increase spending on colleges and community colleges, and the chairman of the Parliamentary Budget Committee is proposing $ 10 billion to improve school facilities. Senate leaders want to close the school’s academic learning gap through more education spending.
“California is in good financial condition,” San Diego Senate Chairman Pro Tem Toni Atkins said in a statement. “It’s time to build on the progress we have made: more access to education and health care.”
Next Step: Target Expenditure?
But progressive policy experts want to go one step further. As the Measure of America points out, they haven’t reached the point where they need support, so they want targeted spending for a particular group. For example, the index points out that whites and Asians are three times more likely to have a bachelor’s degree than Latino Americans. Similarly, black women’s college enrollment rates are almost 4 percentage points lower than white women.
The report notes that progress is already being made as public schools in disadvantaged areas receive more state and federal funding. However, Chris Horne, executive director of the California Budget Policy Center, said the scale could be even more important. Some supporters are promoting an idea called universalism, where government support targets not only low-income earners but also specific groups such as Native Americans and Latina.
“The path is very clear. We need to provide more cash support, health care and child care services. The current system has not reached the color community and needs to be more targeted.”
Median income for white and Asian workers exceeds $ 51,000 annually, while income for black, Native American and Latin American workers is less than $ 37,000. According to the report, in all rural and urban areas of California, white workers are above the median and Latin workers are below the median.
The Democratic Party acknowledges that more work needs to be done. “California’s progressive income is funding the state at record levels, but unfairness remains,” said Berkeley’s state, which helps increase investment in affordable housing and infrastructure. Senator Nancy Skinner said.
“The path is very clear. The current system has not reached the color community, so we need to provide more cash support, health care and child care services.
California Budget & Policy Center, Executive Director, Chris Hoene
In recent years, California has approved additional cash assistance to the poor through programs such as the Golden State Stimulus, a state-wide cash assistance program to help low-income households during a pandemic, and guaranteed income. Supporters want to see more because that financial support isn’t tied — and it’s in the hands of the groups that need the most support.
Raiderman is concerned that “all of these gaps we’ve seen will widen” during the pandemic, but “these moments of the pandemic have specific opportunities to invest in the necessary interventions.” I’m optimistic.
This article is part of California Divide, A collaboration between newsrooms investigating income inequality and financial survival in California.
