The Poynter Institute Menu Donate State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin Issues * All Issues * Online hoaxes * Coronavirus * Health Care * Immigration * Extremism * Taxes * Marijuana * Environment * Crime * Guns * Foreign Policy * LGBTQ+ People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis Media * PunditFact * Tucker Carlson * Sean Hannity * Rachel Maddow * Bloggers * PolitiFact Videos Campaigns * 2024 Elections Truth-o-Meter * True * Mostly True * Half True * Mostly False * False * Pants on Fire Promises * Biden Promise Tracker * Trump-O-Meter * Obameter * Latest Promises About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Suggest a Fact-check * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters Donate #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up English Español ### Get PolitiFact in your inbox. * Weekly Email Newsletter * Daily Email Newsletter Your Email Address Sign Up ![](\\" ![](\\" Gavin Newsom stated on September 10, 2018 in a campaign speech: \"Close to half of the children\" in California are \"at or near poverty,\" when you consider cost-of-living. ![\\"true\\"](\\" true/3d4df195c595a07e3fd69b5e4aab3e3c.jpg.\\") ![\\"true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * Housing * Poverty * The 2018 California Governor\'s Race * California * Gavin Newsom ![\\"A](\\" A July 2018 report found 45.8 percent of children in California live at or near poverty / Capital Public Radio file photo. ![\\"Chris](\\" By Chris Nichols September 19, 2018 # TRUE: Nearly half of California’s children are ‘at or near poverty’ when considering cost-of-living Democratic candidate for governor Gavin Newsom recently described California as both \"the richest and poorest state.\" The economy is booming for many, he said, while millions of others are mired in poverty. That includes nearly half of the state’s children, when considering the state’s high \"cost-of-living,\" he claimed. \"Close to half of the children (are) at or near poverty,\" Newsom said while campaigning in Los Angeles County on Sept. 10, 2018. \"How can that be in this place, this extraordinary place, in the world’s 5th largest economy? We must do more and we must do better.\" Did Newsom get his facts right on this sad statistic? We set out on a fact check. Our research Newsom’s campaign spokesman said the claim is supported by the July 2018 report \"Child Poverty in California.\" That study produced an updated look at what researchers call the California Poverty Measure, which is a joint research effort by the Public Policy Institute of California and the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality to closely examine poverty in the state. It found that 45.8 percent of children in California were \"at or near poverty\" in 2016, the most recent year examined. That matches with Newsom’s statement of \"close to half.\" But we wanted to know how researchers came up with that number. Caroline Danielson, a PPIC policy director and co-author of the study, said the California Poverty Measure takes into account California’s high cost-of- living, as well as factors that offset those costs, such as the state’s social safety net programs. The report found the share of children in poverty was 21 percent. It found an additional nearly 25 percent lived \"near poverty,\" meaning their family incomes was one-and-a-half times the poverty line, Danielson said. In the report, the income threshold for poverty varies by region. In a high-cost county, including many places along the coast, the average threshold for a family of four is $30,000 per year, Danielson explained. A family that makes less than that would be considered in poverty. In that same county, near poverty includes families whose incomes range from $30,000 to $45,000, or one-and-a-half times the poverty line. Other counties had lower income thresholds. To reach 45.8 percent figure, the study combined children who live at or near poverty in all regions of the state. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 15, 2024 in a news conference California law lets you “rob a store as long as it’s not more than $950” and “not get charged.” Kamala Harris “did that.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Jeff Cercone • August 19, 2024 Danielson said the state’s child poverty rate has declined from 25 percent in 2011, the first year PPIC produced the California Poverty Measure, to 21 percent in 2016. Census figures also support claim The finding that nearly half of California’s children live at or near poverty is also supported by data in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure. An updated version of that report, which also takes into account cost-of-living, was released this month. For 2016, it found 22.5 percent of California’s children live in poverty while a total of 45 percent live at or near poverty, according to a review of that report’s 2016 public-use dataset conducted by Danielson at our request. The Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure has gained wide acceptance among researchers over the agency’s Official Poverty Measure, which does not take state-by-state variations in cost into account. Two researchers, however, raised questions in a recent op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle about relying too much on that measure. David Brady, professor of public policy and director of the Blum Initiative on Global and Regional Poverty at UC Riverside and Zachary Parolin, a researcher at the University of Antwerp’s Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, asked \"whether California’s poverty rate should depend so exclusively and overwhelmingly on housing costs.\" They proposed using questions about median income, alongside the supplemental poverty measure, to arrive at poverty rates. This isn’t the first claim we’ve fact-checked on California’s dismal poverty rate. In January 2017, we rated True a claim by Republican Assemblyman Chad Mayes that California had the nation’s highest overall poverty rate, when including children and adults and factoring in cost-of-living. Mayes, at the time, was citing the state’s 20.6 percent overall poverty rate for the period 2013 to 2015. That rate has dropped slightly but remains the highest in the nation at 19 percent, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure for 2017. Newsom’s plan for child poverty Newsom has described California’s child poverty as \"a moral outrage.\" His campaign website includes several proposals for reducing it. They include, among other plans, creating college savings accounts for every incoming kindergartener; expanding the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit for very low- income earners; and increasing CalWORKS grants, a financial assistance program for families in need. Our ruling Democratic candidate for governor Gavin Newsom recently claimed \"close to half of the children\" in California are \"at or near poverty,\" when you consider the state’s cost-of-living. A July 2018 report by the Public Policy Institute of California backs up Newsom’s statement. It accounts for cost-of-living in each region of the state and found 45.8 percent of the state’s children live at or near poverty. Another report, the U.S. Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, also confirms the claim. Newsom’s statement is supported by credible reports and includes necessary context. We rate his claim True. **TRUE** – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. Share the Facts 2018-09-20 00:29:34 UTC PolitiFact ![\\"PolitiFact\\"](\\" 6 1 7 ![\\"PolitiFact](\\" true.png\\") PolitiFact Rating: True \"Close to half of the children\" in California are \"at or near poverty,\" when you consider cost-of-living. Gavin Newsom Candidate for California governor ![](\\" p_1.jpg\\") Monday, September 10, 2018 2018-09-10 Read More info #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Gavin Newsom, campaign speech, Sept. 10, 2018 Nathan Click, spokesman, Gavin Newsom for Governor, email exchange Sept. 17, 2018 Caroline Danielson, policy director and senior fellow, Public Policy Institute of California, phone interview, Sept. 17, 2018 Public Policy Institute of California, Child Poverty in California, July 2018 GavinNewsom.com, Eliminating Child Poverty In California, accessed September 2018 San Francisco Chronicle, op-ed, California’s troubling poverty rate, Sept. 6, 2018 PolitiFact California, TRUE: California has the nation’s highest poverty rate, when factoring in cost-of-living, Jan. 20, 2017 U.S. Census Bureau, \"Income and Poverty in the United States: 2017,\" September 2018 EdSource.com, Child poverty drops in California, but is still the nation’s highest, April 17, 2018 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Chris Nichols ![](\\" ![](\\" Larry Elder stated on August 31, 2021 in a CNN interview: “I don’t believe the science suggests that young people should be vaccinated. I don’t believe that young people should have to wear masks at school. I’m not sure the science is settled on that at all.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • September 11, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Larry Elder stated on August 19, 2021 in a tweet: “California voters to be able to download ballots at home for recall election, sparking security concerns.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • August 27, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on June 1, 2021 in an interview on MSNBC: \"Sadly during the course of the pandemic one-third of our small businesses have closed.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • June 7, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" John Cox stated on May 4, 2021 in a campaign press conference: California Gov. Gavin Newsom “just let 76,000 inmates out of jail.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • May 5, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kevin Kiley stated on April 26, 2021 in a tweet: “San Francisco had twice as many drug overdose deaths as COVID deaths last year.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • April 29, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Gavin Newsom stated on March 9, 2021 in a State of the State Address: “California’s [COVID-19] death rate has remained one of the lowest per capita in the nation: 134 deaths per 100,000, compared to 158 nationally, 153 in Texas and 247 in New York.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • March 10, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Doug LaMalfa stated on March 2, 2021 in a constituent email.: Voting-rights legislation proposed by Democrats in Congress called H.R. 1 “would force states to restore the voting rights of convicted felons—including violent felons convicted of murder or rape.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • March 4, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kevin Sorbo stated on February 15, 2021 in a tweet: “So California is requiring signature verification for Gavin Newsom’s recall, but didn’t require it for the mail in ballots.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Bill McCarthy • February 16, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kevin McCarthy stated on February 9, 2021 in a press release: Raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour “would destroy up to 3.7 million jobs.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • February 11, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Bloggers stated on January 28, 2021 in a blog: Facebook tried to “shut down” the campaign to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • February 2, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Rusty Hicks stated on January 12, 2021 in a press conference: The effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom is \"a coup.\" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • January 14, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Shannon Grove stated on January 6, 2021 in a tweet: \"Antifa\" is to blame for storming the U.S. Capitol. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • January 7, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on January 1, 2021 in a Facebook post: There are “absolutely no patients” at Los Angeles hospital considered the center of region\'s COVID-19 surge. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • January 6, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" James Gallagher stated on December 3, 2020 in a tweet: “Government imposed lockdowns do NOT reduce [COVID-19] cases or stop spikes.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • December 16, 2020 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on November 11, 2020 in a tweet: Video shows California election workers \"cheating\" by collecting ballots from drop box on Nov. 4. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • November 11, 2020 ### TRUE: Nearly half of California’s children are ‘at or near poverty’ when considering cost-of-living * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 10, 2024 in at a Sept. 10 presidential debate: \"In Springfield (Ohio), they\'re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they\'re eating the cats. They\'re eating, they\'re eating the pets of the people that live there.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Jeff Cercone • September 11, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on September 6, 2024 in in social media posts: Haitian immigrants are eating pets and wildlife in Springfield, Ohio. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 9, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on September 2, 2024 in social media posts: The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is on the way to Aurora, Colorado, to confront a Venezuelan gang. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Loreben Tuquero • September 9, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 20, 2024 in remarks at a fundraiser in Provincetown, Mass.: Donald Trump “took away protections against discrimination for LGBTQ patients under the Affordable Care Act.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Grace Abels • September 9, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" One Nation stated on August 23, 2024 in an ad: “Sen. Jacky Rosen voted to increase taxes on families making less than $75,000 a year.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Seth A. Richardson • September 9, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 3, 2024 in una publicación en Facebook: \"La nueva ley de condonación elimina $15,000 de la deuda de tarjetas de crédito para todos los estadounidenses\". ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • September 9, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 3, 2024 in una publicación en X: “Un grupo de 32 venezolanos armados tomaron esta noche un edificio de apartamentos en Chicago”. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 9, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 7, 2024 in a rally in Mosinee, Wis.: Vice President Kamala Harris “cast the tiebreaking votes that caused the worst inflation in American history, costing a typical American family $28,000.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 8, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" National Republican Senatorial Committee stated on August 28, 2024 in an Instagram ad: Elissa Slotkin “gave your hard-earned tax money to illegal immigrants.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Caleb McCullough • September 6, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 5, 2024 in a post: Video shows Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz dancing to Beyoncé in a cowboy hat and crop top. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sara Swann • September 6, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. Become a member! In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. Sign me up #### Offices District of Columbia 1800 I Street NW Washington, DC 20006 Florida 801 3rd St. S St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-821-9494 #### People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis #### State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin #### About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters #### RSS Feeds * Recent Articles and Fact-checks * Recent Fact-checks Suggest a Fact-check #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Copyright ©All Rights Reserved Poynter Institute 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ![\\"\\"](\\" * * *
Close to half of the children in California are at or near poverty when you consider costofliving