The week long launch for A Portrait of California 2011 was kicked off today in Sacramento. Being the first-ever human development report focused on California, it has already attracted considerable attention in the press including Huffington Post and The Business Journal. Of particular interest to journalists is the idea that there are not one but rather five Californias.
Huffington Post Los Angeles
“Which California Are you?”
The Business Journal
“Study: Valley among state’s ‘struggling, forsaken’ ”
California Watch
“State ranks high for ‘well-being,’ but local results vary”
The Bay Citizen
“Life and Opportunity are good in Metro SF”
California Healthline
“Index Offers Well-Being Scores for Five Distinct Clusters of Californians”
California Planning and Development Report
Study Illustrates Profound Quality-of-Life Disparities Across California
Reuters
California still leads U.S., including in inequality
LA Observed
Drilling down into California’s have and have-not worlds
MyDesert.com
Report: Income lagging in 45th Congressional District
Ventura County Star
Study suggests quality-of-life disparity creates ‘five Californias’
The Sacramento Bee
Huge well-being study finds five disparate Californias
Sacramento Business Journal
“Report breaks down quality of life into 5 Californias”
Astounding Facts in A Portrait of California 2011 include the following:
• Asian Americans in San Francisco today have well-being levels the average American will not reach, if current trends continue, until 2045
• The foreign born outlive the native-born by almost four years. This pattern holds for every racial and ethnic group except for Asian Americans.
• Residents in coastal counties are two-thirds more likely to have a bachelor’s degree and nearly twice as likely to have a graduate degree.
• Fourth-grade test scores have not improved for African American children since 2000
• One hundred of California’s nearly 2,500 high schools account for nearly half the state’s dropouts
• Earnings are nearly five times higher in Los Gatos, Santa Clara County than in Exposition Park, Los Angeles )($73,000 as opposed to $15,000, respectively)
• If current trends continue, by 2025, California will have 1 million fewer college graduates than its labor market will demand
A Portrait of California 2011 is part of the Measure of America social sensemaking book series created by Sarah Burd-Sharps and Kristen Lewis of the The American Human Development Project in collaboration with Humantific.
The American Human Development Project is an initiative of the Social Science Research Council. For more information on The Measure of America project visit measureofamerica.org
