Poverty and race in Imperial County
Arecent US Census report says Imperial County residents who live below the poverty level decreased in one year to 24.6 percent. In its latest American Community Survey, the agency said 42,303 people are poor and this unsolved issue impacts one out of every three children less than 18 years of age, as well as 26.2 percent of Latinos and 18.1 of white non-Hispanic.
The Census also gives us clues as to what has caused in part this problem. While a third of those who have less than high school education live in poverty, the rate decreases to 25.9 percent among high school graduates, 14.2 percent of those with some college education and only 3.6 percent of those holding bachelor’s degrees.
Education attainment and poverty seem to be linked with unemployment as 32.7 percent of the poor have no jobs, 20.5 percent of those with a parttime job are below poverty level and also affects barely 4.8 percent of those with a full-time job.
According to the Census, the poverty levels declined from 2015, when 25.1 percent of residents or 42,638 people suffer such conditions. But over the years the issue has gone up and down — 26.8 percent in 2011, 22.7 in 2012, 22.1 percent in 2013 and 23.7 percent in 2014.
The Census also provided statistics regarding income. The median household income reported last year was $63,208, although the figure decreases to about a quarter of such amount for those receiving Social Security benefits, almost an eighth for families with supplemental income, and about a third of households with retired workers. At the same time household income increases depending on the number of residents holding jobs — from $33,671 for families with only one member employed to $104,963 for those with at least three breadwinners.
The federal agency highlighted the differences in per capita income by the race of resident. Latinos are still way behind their counterparts from other races with $15,259, compared to $20,506 for African Americans, $20,159 for Native Americans, $22,859 for Asians and $30,482 for white residents. In this matter, the positive news is that Latino per capita income has increased since 2010, similar to a tendency shown by African Americans and Native Americans, while white non-Hispanics and Asians have observed declines.
This year the Census also reported the status of healthcare coverage. For Imperial County, 93.1 percent of the population has medical insurance through their companies or under the subsidized or free Obamacare program. Like in the cases mentioned above there are differences by age, race and employment. The report says 97.3 percent of children of less than 18 years old have medical coverage and decreases gradually with older residents. According to the report 92.9 percent of Latinos in the valley have healthcare coverage. The difference lies in USborn residents, naturalized citizens and those without citizenship. A similar path can be observed depending education level — the least educated the lowest the health insurance.
The agency also reported that 45.1 percent of residents 16 and older held jobs last year. The difference with the 43.7 percent reported in 2010 is minimal. Latinos reported a 46.2 percent employment rate. Like in the other cases, education level is fundamental for employment — the higher the educational attainment the most likely an individual will have a job.
The Census also provided information about the food stamps program known in California as CalFresh. In Imperial County last year 9,354 families received this benefit. Of those households, a third had at least a member of 60 years of age. The report says 3,765 were lead by a single woman, 6,782 have at least a minor child, 6,135 were under the poverty level and 3,626 has at least one of its members disabled. Of those families getting benefits, 90.1 percent were Hispanic, similar to the general population percentage.
As we see, more than race, education is the key to decrease poverty.