Children’s Basic Economic Needs Are Met
Economic security in childhood
helps create a foundation for children’s the future success.
Economic security provides stability for families, and makes it more
probable that their children will be provided with the resources they
need: safe housing, good nutrition, available childcare, and good
schools.
For some of Yolo County’s children, this goal is out of reach.
16% of Yolo County children and youth live in poverty
and one third of those children and youth are Hispanic. It is more
difficult for families living in poverty to create a stable, nurturing
and stimulating environment for children to grow up in. Children
living in
poverty are likely to have parents with little education, and are
themselves less likely to do well in school
Children in poverty are also more likely to have single parents.
Enforcement of child support payment orders is an important way to help
make
sure the economic needs of all children are met. In Yolo County,
nearly 55% of children and youth with child support cases are currently
receiving support. While this is slightly higher than the state
average, 45% of children who need child support are still not receiving
it.
Although 16% live in poverty, only 10% of Yolo County children and
youth receive public assistance in the form of CalWORKs. Lack of
access to public assistance can mean lack of access to subsidized
childcare. In Yolo County childcare is slightly more affordable
than across the state, but still consumes a significant portion of
household income.
The WIC, Women, Infants, and Children, program continues to serve many
Yolo County residents, yet large numbers of eligible children are not
accessing nutrition programs. The most underutilized program is
the School Breakfast Program. School nutrition programs can help
children’s physical and mental development, helping them concentrate
and do better in school. Children in poverty or from low-income
homes often need this extra resource to help them succeed.
Housing in Yolo County is serious economic problem for families.
The National Association of Home Builders has determined that only 38%
of homes in Yolo County are affordable to families with the median
income ($40,769 in 1999). Rental rates in Yolo County are also
higher than across the state and compared to the surrounding region,
which is related to the relative shortage of housing. Yolo County
has a very low housing vacancy rate of 3.6%.
Children and youth in poverty
Why is this important?
Children living in poverty often
have poor health and nutrition, and lower academic achievement.
As they grow up, they are more at risk to enter the criminal justice
system and to have low wage earning power.
How is Yolo County doing?
16% of children and
youth in Yolo County live in poverty, which is lower than the state
average of 19%. The Census Bureau determines poverty by household
income below a nationally established threshold, the Federal Poverty
Level. While most children living in poverty in Yolo County are
white, as a proportion of their ethnic group non-Caucasian children are
more likely to live in poverty.
The figures reported are the percentage of children and youth in each
ethnic group who live below the poverty line.
Housing costs
Why is this important?
Home ownership has long been
considered a good indicator of the well being and economic vitality of
a community. The Housing Opportunity Index determines the
affordability of housing through the availability of homes requiring
annual payments that are less than 28% of the median income, what the
average family is able to spend on housing. Affordable and
available housing contributes to a stable environment for children and
youth, and frees up parental income for other necessities, such as
childcare.
How is Yolo County doing?
Less than 40% of homes in Yolo
County are considered affordable to resident families with a median
income of $40,769 according to the 2000 U.S. Census. This is 40%
fewer affordable homes than the nation’s average. Yolo County’s
housing affordability is near average when compared to the surrounding
region.
Yolo County has a 3.6% housing vacancy rate, much lower than the state
average of 5.8%, indicating a possible housing shortage in Yolo
County. Surrounding counties have much higher vacancy rates; 4.5%
in Sacramento County, 6.5% in Napa County, and 7% in Butte
County. Yolo County’s annual median rent, $8,244, is also higher
than the state average and most surrounding counties, averaging 20% of
the median yearly income in 1999.
The percent of homes in Yolo County considered by the National
Association of Home Builders to be affordable to a family of median
income has dropped by 20 percentage points since 1998. As of
2002, only 38.9% of homes in Yolo County were considered to be
affordable.
Children in families receiving CalWORKS
Why is this important?
CalWORKS, or California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids, offers cash assistance and
employment services to whose income is not sufficient to meet their
basic need. Eligibility is determined by the unemployment or
absence of a child’s primary caretaker. Adults are limited to 60
months of cash assistance, while children remain on cash assistance
until their family’s income is sufficient to meet basic needs.
 How is
Yolo County doing?
The percent of children receiving
economic assistance has dropped dramatically since the mid-1990s, to
10% in 2001, at the same rate as statewide averages. Welfare
reform in the mid-1990s changed eligibility rules and length of
available assistance. The late 1990s also saw an economic upturn:
Yolo County’s unemployment rate lowered, and per capita income rose
slightly.
Recently, the percent of children receiving CalWORKS aid has remained
steady. The percent of children receiving government assistance
continues to be lower than the percent of children living in poverty,
indicating a population of children in need and without access to many
resources.
Children receiving child support
Why is this important?
Children or youth living in a
single parent household are more likely to be living in poverty or
receiving public assistance. Greater enforcement of child support
makes parents accountable to their children, and increases the economic
stability of children and youth.
How is Yolo County doing?
Obtaining a child support order is
a necessary first step to collecting child support from parents.
Yolo County has over 80% of cases with child support orders compared to
the state average of 72%, and both Yolo County and the state have much
higher percentages of cases than the federal minimum standard of
50%.
Yolo County Child Support Services also has a slightly higher rate of
collecting current support than the statewide average. However,
nearly half of children in Yolo County that have support owed them are
still not receiving it.
Availability and cost of childcare
Why is this important?
Childcare is a pressing problem
for working or single parents, who make up a significant portion of
parents in Yolo County. Twenty-two percent of families with
children ages 0-5 are headed by a single parent. Fifty-nine
percent of children ages 0-13 live in homes where all parents
work. Available and affordable childcare is important in keeping
children safe, parents in the workforce, and the economy healthy.
How is Yolo County doing?
While a higher percentage
of children have access to licensed childcare in Yolo County than
across the state, fully 67% of children in need of childcare do not
have it. This may contribute to the number of children who have
to
take care of themselves for more than half an hour on a regular
basis.
Parents who cannot find or cannot afford childcare sometimes resort to
this risky practice.
The cost of childcare in Yolo County is lower than the state average,
but it represents a higher proportion of median income in Yolo County,
resulting in less affordable childcare for Yolo County residents.
 Within
the
county,
childcare costs differ dramatically, with
significantly higher costs in Davis than either Woodland or West
Sacramento (although West Sacramento is almost equal when the cost of
care is calculated as a percent of income). Without subsidies for
childcare, the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network
estimates that Yolo County residents with minimum wage incomes would
not be able to pay for both housing and childcare, because child care
costs would take up 55% of their income.
One subsidy program available to Yolo County residents is through
participation in CalWORKS, which offers time-limited childcare
subsidies to parents participating in welfare-to-work programs.
However, the waiting lists for all other types of subsidized care are
long, and even though childcare costs are lower in Yolo County than
across the state, they continue to be a large percentage of household
expenses.
At this time the current waiting list for what is referred to as the
Alternative Payment (AP) subsidy for Yolo County is 1,050
non-duplicated children, which does not include the Head Start and
State Preschool programs.
Nutritional programs
Why is this important?
Research has shown that
inadequate nutrition or hunger in children can impair effective
learning, and physical and cognitive development. Children in lower
income homes are less likely to receive adequate nutrition, which is
why the participation of eligible lower income families in food
programs can be crucial.
How is Yolo County doing?
Yolo County’s low-income children
appear to be largely underserved by the available nutrition programs,
although WIC leads the way with only 22% underserved. Nearly
every school in Yolo County offers some program for free or reduced
meals for students, and greater outreach to students and their parents
may increase the number of needy children served.
The data collected by the California Food Policy Advocates is based on
the reported participation of the food programs, and differing measures
of eligibility. Food stamp eligibility is based on all families
below the federal poverty line, and eligibility for school and
community nutrition programs is based on the number of children who
applied and qualified.
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