36 percent of IE families struggle to stay afloat financially, report says

According to a study recently released by the United Ways of California, one in three households in California struggle to meet their basic needs each month. The report, titled “Struggling to Stay Afloat,” measures the estimated cost of supporting a family based on county-specific expenses across the state.

The Real Cost Measure, or RCM, uses a budget model that calculates the estimated basic needs cost for families of varying sizes, and compares the level of income needed to fully support a household from community to community.  Housing, food, healthcare, transportation, childcare, taxes, and miscellaneous costs are included in the formula.  Overall, the study found that 33 percent — or nearly 3.3 million California families – lack sufficient income to meet their basic costs of living.

In the Inland Empire, it’s worse. The report shows 36 percent of families are struggling to make ends meet, slightly higher than the state average. A total of 369,301 households in the region live below the RCM, according to the research. More specifically, more than 55 percent of families with children under age 6 struggle financially, and more than 70 percent of single mothers fall below the RCM.

The data powerfully demonstrates that simply having a job is not enough to support a family.  According to the study, a family of four in the Inland Empire would need to hold two to three full-time, minimum-wage jobs to achieve economic security.

“Like the rest of the state, we see a significant proportion of households in San Bernardino and Riverside counties paying a significant amount of their income on housing,” said Henry Gascon, one of the study’s authors. “At least 200,000 households in San Bernardino, for example, are paying more than 30 percent of their income on housing, compared to nearly 225,000 in Riverside County. That’s almost 40 percent of households in both of those counties. That housing burden is significantly higher the deeper families fall into poverty.”

A key finding in the report is the fact that housing costs occupy a disproportionate share of most family budgets across the state. Not only do most struggling families spend over half of their income on housing, but for those living below the federal poverty level (a family of four making less than $25,100 annually), housing can eat up a staggering 79 percent of their monthly income.

Although housing costs are less expensive in the Inland Empire compared with those closer to the coast, families still pay a significant amount of their income into housing. As Gascon pointed out, “Inland Empire families often have to stretch their dollars further due to the lack of high-earning job opportunities in the region. Median household income in both San Bernardino and Riverside County are at least $10,000 below the state average.”

The report concludes with several recommendations including the need to increase housing stock and prioritize help for renters. California currently has one of the lowest rates of affordable rental housing units for low-income households in the entire nation. Increasing housing of all kinds, for individuals of all income levels, while providing additional housing supports for the lowest income families, will slowly help reduce the region’s extreme housing burden.

To dig into more of Struggling to Stay Afloat and to draw your own conclusions, go to unitedwaysca.org/realcost.  The data speaks for itself.

Gregory Bradbard is an advocate for breaking the cycle of poverty as president of the SoCal-based Hope Through Housing Foundation at HTHF.org.