Half of those in poverty have a high school degree or less; Local hire, living wages can provide a lifeline

Oakland, CA—Newly released Census Bureau statistics—including poverty data released today—show that real household median incomes in the East Bay have flat-lined for a second year in a row, and actually lost ground between 2000 to 2008. Families struggling to make ends meet are also hampered by lower levels of education: One in three of those in poverty have less than a high school degree level of education, and one in four have a high school degree or equivalent, but it is still not enough. Even as the Federal Reserve chairman marks the “very likely” end of the recession, advocates point to solutions that provide real economic recovery to turn the tide of previous “jobless” recoveries.

Those working in traditionally low-wage service sectors, such as buildings and grounds maintenance, personal care, and food preparation, earn the lowest median salaries—up to a quarter less than what is needed to support a family of four in the Bay Area without public assistance ($40,023 a year).

Latino and African American households in particular faced wide disparities, with Latino median households at 76% that of the overall, and Black and African American households at only 57% of the overall. African American families suffer poverty at twice the rate of the overall East Bay population, and almost six times the poverty rate of white families. By individual earnings, Latino individuals earn a median of 70 cents on the dollar of East Bay residents overall, while African Americans earn 85 cents on the dollar.

Other key findings include:

• The shape of the East Bay’s median household income distribution is uneven, with fewer households in the middle incomes (between $75,000 to $149,999).
• Low-wage occupations that do not pay a Basic Family Wage make up 23% of the total employment, or over one in five jobs, for East Bay residents.
• Of those in poverty, 32% work part-time or part-year, showing that the gradual trend toward less-than-full-time work has deep poverty consequences.
• Oakland ranks 63rd out of 121 cities in California on rates of insurance, with an uninsured rate of 17.5%. Richmond ranks 89^th out of 121 cities in California, with an uninsured rate of 20.6%

Turning the Tide: Solutions for the East Bay

“The last recession’s ‘jobless recovery’ and stagnating wages leave the East Bay region without a safety-net for the current recession,” said Jennifer Lin, Research Director at the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy. “However, there are ways to turn back the tide.” Key elements of a sustainable economic recovery plan include concrete policies that local cities can adopt to rebuild the local economy and throw working families a lifeline. These include:

• Job stabilization and eventual job growth in key industry sectors like green construction and logistics and warehousing.
• Hiring locally so that residents in the nearby vicinity of a company or project benefit from new jobs.
• Sustainable wages and health benefits so workers can provide for themselves and their families.
• Pathways into entry-level jobs and career pathways that provide increasing levels of responsibility, skill, and pay.

Statistics from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey are released annually and cover the year 2008. This data release includes a delayed release of individual and family poverty data. The full data summary can be found at www.workingeastbay.org/perpetualrecession by 11am Tuesday, September 29, 2009.

The East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy is celebrating 10 years of building power and raising standards for working families. EBASE has helped pass seven living wage policies in the region. This is EBASE’s third annual brief on U.S. Census data focusing on income and poverty in the East Bay.

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