Los Angeles County ranks seventh in income inequality out of the nation’s 150 largest metro regions, according to a new report.
The study from PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environment and Regional Equity, with support from the Weingart Foundation, concludes that this high rate of inequality threatens the region’s long-term economic prosperity.
The first in a series of reports on inequality in Southern California and its implications, the study examines a wide range of factors contributing to income inequality, including the disappearance of middle-wage jobs, increasing proportions of people of color who find it more difficult to obtain and hold middle-wage jobs, lack of higher education, and neighborhoods largely segregated by income and race.
For the series of reports, PolicyLink and the USC program developed a database of income and demographic statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Woods & Poole Economics, and other sources. Among the findings: just over 18 percent of county residents live below the federal poverty line of $24,600 a year for a family of four, while the percentage of people working full-time yet still falling below that poverty line is 7 percent compared with 4.7 percent nationally.
To read Howard Fine's article, please click here.
For the full report, please click here.
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