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A family of three comprising of a male presenting individual wearing a blue shirt kissing their infant who is being held by a female presenting individual with a deep red shirt. A family of three comprising of a male presenting individual wearing a blue shirt kissing their infant who is being held by a female presenting individual with a deep red shirt.

REAL COST MEASURE 2023

Real Cost Measure: New United Way study finds over 1 in 4 Bay Area households struggle to meet basic needs

 

New data reveals the true cost of living in the Bay Area – too many working families don’t earn enough to meet a decent standard of living based on 2021 census data

 

Over one in four San Francisco Bay Area working families struggled to cover their daily needs in 2021, according to a new study released by United Ways of California. The Real Cost Measure in California 2023 factors the costs of housing, health care, child care, transportation and other basic needs that are not captured by the outdated federal poverty measurement to reveal the true cost of a decent standard of living in California.

 

“In the Bay Area, more than a quarter of households worked for wages that did not cover their basic needs in 2021. That’s more than 650,000 of our neighbors who are working, yet still struggling financially, particularly Latinx and Black families,” said Kevin Zwick, CEO of United Way Bay Area.

“We know that California has the resources to fix this. From 1984 to 2021, California gross domestic product grew by 173%, but median household earnings only rose 4%. It’s clear that the state’s economic gains are not reaching working families as it should.”

The study’s other key findings for the Bay Area region include:

 

❖ Struggling Households Work: Of the estimated 654,337 households in the Bay Area that fall below the Real Cost Measure, 97% have at least one working adult.

 

❖ Housing Burden: Nearly 4 in 10 households in the region (35%) pay at least 30% of their income on housing, which is considered a dangerous threshold by affordable housing advocates.

 

❖ Households of all races struggle, but is highest for Latinx and Black families: Around 215,559 Latinx households (or 49% of them) are estimated to not earn enough to get by, compared to around 220,147 white households (19%); 151,959 Asian American households (23%); and 60,691 Black households (45%).

 

Access the 2023 Annual Report (PDF)

 

View the Press Release

 

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