L.A. County poverty rate fell in 2007, census data show
Other Southern California counties also show slight declines. The effects of the sharp economic downturn and rising unemployment since last year are unclear.
The rate of poverty in Los Angeles County fell last year, and median income levels rose slightly, even as the mortgage meltdown and rising fuel prices were beginning to slow the economy, according to new census data.
The percentage of county residents living below the federal poverty level declined to 14.7% last year from 15.4% in 2006. The rate has been trending downward from about 18% in 2000 but remains above the statewide average of 12.4%.
More than 1 in 5 children in the county were living in poverty, a rate that had not changed significantly from the year before.
Analysts noted that the figures, part of the Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey, did not reflect the sharp downturn in economic conditions this year and the rising unemployment rate, which hit 7.3% in the county in July, the highest rate in 12 years.
Whether poverty rates have begun to rise this year is unclear.
But the decline in poverty reflected in the latest figures is evidence of larger demographic and economic trends in Southern California, said Dowell Myers, a professor in USC's School of Policy, Planning and Development.
"The population is getting older, and older people have higher incomes," he said. Also, immigration rates are continuing to decline, Myers said, and it is the most recent newcomers who tend to have the highest poverty rates.
"We have an immigrant population that is settling in, and that is raising their incomes," he said.
But the failure to significantly reduce the proportion of children in poverty and new evidence of a widening income gap show that more must be done to address the needs of low-wage workers, said Jessica Goodheart, research director for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy.
"During the good times, we haven't been sharing the benefits of growth equitably," said Goodheart, whose group has supported the organizing efforts of service industry workers.
Poverty rates fell elsewhere in Southern California, with Riverside County's dropping to 11.7% in 2007 from 12.2% in 2006; Orange County showing a decline to 8.9% from 9.7%; and San Bernardino County's rate falling to 11.8% from 13.7%. Ventura County's poverty rate showed a slight decline that was statistically insignificant.
rich.connell@latimes.com
doug.smith@latimes.com
