The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy will host a briefing on the “The Great Recession and Poverty in Long Beach” detailing the effects of the recession on the community. Speakers will elaborate on data collected from the 2009 American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by the US Census Bureau. The presentations will feature the testimonies of community members who, while employed at full-time occupations, are in poverty or economic hardship. The briefing will also include a discussion of the impacts of poverty on children.
The release of the ACS data was the first look at the impacts of the recession at the local level on such indicators as poverty, income and health insurance coverage. The ACS findings reveal that more than 40 percent of the population in Long Beach lived in economic hardship in 2009, defined as below twice the poverty level. There were 190,144 residents who lived below this standard of $43,908 for a family of four in 2009. More than one in four full-time workers in Long Beach lived below twice the federal poverty level.Â
“Nearly 26 percent of all full-time workers living in Long Beach earn less than $25,000 a year,” explains Gary Hytrek, professor of sociology at CSULB and a Coalition member. “The Coalition for Good Jobs and a Healthy Community is working with community partners to ensure a sustained recovery built on a foundation of good jobs created by responsible development that will share our prosperity throughout all of Long Beach.”
Hosted by the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and co-sponsored by the California Endowment, the Coalition for Good Jobs and a Healthy Community, and the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, the briefing will take place at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, 1950 Lemon Ave., on Friday, Dec. 3 from 3pm to 5pm.
