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Well-being in California is improving. But not these people, communities.

Most Californians are living longer, earning degrees at higher rates and making higher wages than the average American. Yet when taking into account demographics and geography, a new study shows inequities persist.

It can be seen across California, where more than 12 years separate the life expectancies in the shortest- and longest-lived communities, according to the report “A Portrait of California.”

Moreover, the well-being of Black, indigenous and people of color falls significantly below the state average, with Blacks, Native Americans and whites experiencing a decline over the past decade, says the report from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Measure of America.

The report looks at how Californians are doing in three key dimensions of well-being: longevity, access to knowledge, and earnings. Well-being is measured using the American Human Development Index (HDI) by combining data on these topics into a composite score on a 10-point scale.

Overall, the Golden State is seeing meaningful growth in terms of longevity, education and earnings, said Kristen Lewis, director at Measure of America, in a news release. She said, however, that progress bypasses certain Californians, reinforcing disparities based on a person’s race, ethnicity, gender and location.

“Without intentional changes, we will continue to see progress without equity,” Lewis said.

California residents have a higher average HDI (5.85) than the nation (5.33), making improvements across all three components and raising its score by 15% since 2009. Yet when the data is broken down by race and ethnicity, it shows that Asians (7.94) and whites (6.58) have the highest HDI scores.

The well-being of Asians in California increased (4.3%) over the past decade. On the other hand, whites experienced an HDI score decrease of 0.3%, along with Blacks, whose score dropped by 3.4%. Native Americans had the sharpest decline (22.5%).

Although Latinos saw the largest improvement in HDI score, going from 3.99 in 2009 to 4.81 in 2019, they along with Blacks (4.51) and Native Americans (3.66) have scores greatly below the state average. In Stanislaus County, located in what the report calls Struggling California, the well-being of Blacks is even worse.

Well-being poor for county residents

Struggling California shows one of the five stark realities in the state, encompassing neighborhoods with scores between 3 and 4.99, who represent about 30.9% of the Golden State’s population. Stanislaus County has an HDI score of 4.74, with Asians (6.08) continuing to have a higher than average number.

Even though the HDI score for whites (5.33) living in Stanislaus County is significantly less than the average white Californian (6.58), their well-being numbers are still greater than Latinos (4.86) and Blacks (2.77).

Modesto has the fifth largest gap in HDI scores, following San Francisco, San Jose, Ventura and San Diego, the report shows. However, compared to other metropolitan areas in the San Joaquin Valley, Modesto has the third highest score, followed by Stockton and Fresno.

When it comes to longevity, Californian Asians (87 years) live the longest of any major demographic group, outliving Latinos (83.4 years), whites (78.9 years), Blacks (74.1 years), Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPI) (72.9 years) and Native Americans (71.2 years). In Stanislaus County however, Asians (83 years), Blacks (71 years) and whites (76.6 years) live shorter lives by about 2.3 to 4 years.

Across 265 California communities, East Modesto ranks within the bottom seven for life expectancy, with people living an average of 76.7 years. But when compared to other metropolitan areas in the Valley, Modesto has the second lowest life expectancy, with Bakersfield having the lowest of all.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in California, and particularly for Blacks, Native Americans, NHOPI and whites. Cancer, the second leading cause of death in the state, is the main culprit for Californian Asians and Latinos.

Little education, high youth disconnection rates

The percentage of Californians over the age of 25 and without a high school (15.9%) is higher than the national average (11.4%). The numbers are even greater in Stanislaus County, where 19.4% of adults have yet to complete their degree.

Latinos (31%) and Asians (16.7%) in the county have the greatest percentages of adults who have not completed their high school education, with Blacks 9.2% and of whites 10.2% in the same situation. A little more than half the Black community (51.7%) in the region, ages 3 to 24, are enrolled in school, significantly less than Asians (83.9%), whites (78%) and Latinos (77.6%).

Black Californians also have the largest education gap among the demographic groups. Black women outperforming Black men on every measure of the education index, producing a score 15% higher.

In Struggling California, the rate at which youth ages 16 to 24 are neither working nor in school is 18.2%, almost 8% higher than the state average of 10.3%. Further, only four out 10 children in California ages 3 to 4 are enrolled in preschool, less than half of those living in the One Percent, where HDI scores are 9 or greater.

Earnings and housing

California workers take home an average of $39,500. That’s $3,000 more than the national median, data from the report shows. White men continue to be the highest paid, earning about $61,600 annually, while Latinas remain the lowest paid, making just $25,100.

Moreover, Stanislaus County workers make on average $35,837 annually, less than the state average. Those working in Modesto make the highest earnings compared to other workers in the San Joaquin Valley.

But in Stanislaus County, Blacks also make the least, earning about $28,726 annually, followed by Latinos, who make $31,075.

Although education is closely tied to earnings, women make $11,000 less, yet are more likely than men to have graduated high school and earned a bachelor’s degree.

Black and Latino households are also less likely to own their homes, with only 37% and 44% being owners, respectively, compared to 60% of Asians and 63% of whites that own their homes. Moreover, homes owned by whites and Asians are likely to be valued higher than other demographics.

Laura Laderman, co-author of the report and chief statistician at Measure Of America, said she wanted to highlight the connection between housing and human development. For a human to be able to flourish, that person must have access to safe and secure housing, a significant challenge facing many Californians.

“These inequities are not natural,” but the result of decades of policy choices made by people in power, Laderman said.

In order to be able to live in a two-bedroom rental home, a California worker must earn $39.03, the highest housing wage of any state in the nation, according to the report. Further, only one in four California households can afford the state’s median housing price of $800,000, with half of renters spending over 30% of their income on rent.

“Making more equitable choices… will lead to more equitable outcomes,” Laderman said.

Andrea Briseño is the equity reporter for The Bee's community-funded Economic Mobility Lab, which features a team of reporters covering economic development, education and equity.

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