With socio-economic inequality in U.S. news of late, the idea strikes some as an abstract ill, rather than one with a concrete set of causes—and consequences. But it shouldn't. Curbed LA examines one such concrete cause in the state of California: prohibitively expensive residential markets. When you factor in the cost of housing, California has the highest percentage of people living in poverty in the nation, according to a new report from the California Housing Partnership Corporation (via the Los Angeles Times). Since 2000, rents statewide have increased 21 percent, while renters' incomes have decreased by eight percent (LA has the worst rent/wage discrepancy in the country). One in four children lives in poverty in the state, which the CHPC takes care to note is the "nation's largest and richest." And while poverty is "moderately high" in Los Angeles in particular (at 18.2 percent), the housing crisis pushes that rate to 26.9 percent: "In other words, nearly 3 in 10 households in California's most populous county are in poverty with high housing costs being a primary cause."
The full story, with facts and figures, over at Curbed LA. >>