The rent, as we all know, is too damn high.
So is California’s poverty rate.
The two things are related.
That’s the not-so-surprising finding of a new analysis published by the Pew Charitable Trusts: If California’s rents dropped to the national average, the state would slash its poverty rate by 30%. The child poverty rate would decline by 36%.
The report is meant to highlight an important, if sometimes overlooked, aspect of poverty: It isn’t just about how much a person makes.
“Anti-poverty programs will be much more effective if we address people’s expenses, and rent is the number-one line item for most Americans,” said Pew researcher Alex Horowitz.
Case in point: CalFresh, the state’s food stamp program, saw an increase of $13.1 billion in benefits between 1989 and 2023. Over that same period, rising rents ate away 78% of that increase, according to the analysis.
California’s official poverty rate, which currently matches the national average of 10.7%, has always been a misleading stat. Using another official measure that takes into account each state’s housing costs, the percentage of Californians living in poverty rockets up to 17.8% — the second highest rate in the country after Louisiana.
That makes bringing down rents an especially effective anti-poverty program. If the state’s rents fell by 20%, child poverty would decline by roughly a quarter, the report found.
Twenty percent may seem impossibly ambitious in a state where rents often only seem to go in one direction (with some noteworthy exceptions), but that’s roughly how much typical rents declined in Austin and Minneapolis between 2021 and 2025. Pew researchers attribute that feat of affordability to local policy changes that have allowed for more housing construction.
Those policies — allowing for denser housing in cities, reducing parking requirements for new developments, encouraging the construction of ADUs — mirror many of the laws adopted at the state level in California. Those laws have yet to result in a major increase in new housing, but proponents are optimistic that a building boom is on the horizon.
In other housing news: After vetoing it last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill freeing up state funds for sober homeless housing.
We’re bringing our voter guide to life through VotingMatters events across California, in collaboration with on-the-ground partners. Our next event is at 5 p.m. on Friday in Lynwood at Bateman Hall, 11331 Ernestine Ave. We’ll be there with CALÓ News and Southeast Los Angeles Collaborative.
Other Stories You Should Know
Newsom signs laws to rein in immigration agents
Gov. Newsom on Tuesday signed a package of immigration bills designed to disrupt the Trump administration’s deportation program in California.
The biggest change: Now anyone will be able to sue federal agents for violating their constitutional rights. The new laws also bar immigration agents from using electric shock gloves, create a bill of rights for people held in detention and expand the state’s power to investigate detention centers.
- Newsom: “We will continue protecting our people, upholding the rule of law, and making clear that if the federal government operates in California, we will hold them accountable.”
The next stop likely will be federal court, as some of this new legislation is sure to be tested by lawsuits.
Read more by CalMatters’ Nigel Dura here.
CalMatters’ reporting on 911 calls at an immigrant detention center led to one of the new laws. Read more about that measure here.
New rules for FAIR Plan insurance
From CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay:
A new law signed by the governor subjects the FAIR Plan — the insurer of last resort for homeowners who can’t buy policies elsewhere — to penalties of up to $20,000 for violating insurance laws as well as failing to act quickly to correct its behavior. Starting next year, it would also allow the insurance commissioner to require the plan, which is run by a pool of insurers, to expand coverage options.
Another new law that aims to reduce the number of policies in the FAIR Plan would require it to share, by Jan. 1, 2028, policyholder information with brokers who want to offer customers of the plan policies that will allow them to get back in the regular market.
And lastly: Setbacks for high-speed rail
California’s High-Speed Rail Authority failed on most of its legislative agenda this year, getting just one bill signed into law.
Whose fault is that? It depends on who you ask. And it’s bad news for the already long-delayed, over-budget rail line.
California Voices
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: California’s three main economic sectors are facing existential threats. Among them: The recent kerfuffle over the merger of two Hollywood icons, Paramount and Warner Bros., underscored fears that Southern California is losing its dominance of film and TV production.
Los Angeles can learn from this summer’s World Cup and make sure its 2028 Olympic games put less of a burden on the environment, says Fiona Hines, public health campaigns director for the CALPIRG Education Fund. One idea: Let fans bring reusable water bottles.
Other things worth your time:
There’s a cure for one of CA’s biggest health problems. Getting it is another matter // San Francisco Chronicle (gift link)
An eroding California beach and the fight over driving on the sand // Los Angeles Times (paywall)
It doesn’t hurt to ask: Bay Area woman cold calls landlords in search of an affordable apartment // KQED (free)
Rabid bats! How to protect yourself as cases increase around the state // LAist (free)
Inside the biggest feud in artificial intelligence // The Atlantic (gift link)
Oakland police released from federal oversight after 23 years // Oaklandside (free)
Sacramento is renaming a downtown plaza. Will it keep its César Chávez statue? // Abridged (free)
Fate of homeless shelter hangs in the balance as financial issues catch up to it // The Modesto Focus (free)
Indian gang leader tied to Central Valley murders lands on ‘most wanted’ list // The Sacramento Bee (gift link)
via CalMatters https://ift.tt/2sQEviG
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