Poverty and inequality continue to plague Silicon Valley, and are seen most acutely in housing, food insecurity and education, according to findings released Tuesday by San Jose State University researchers.
This year’s Silicon Valley Pain Index aims to investigate “personal and community distress or suffering” in Santa Clara County.
The index “continues to show the pervasiveness of inequality in our communities,” said Anji Buckner-Capone, an assistant professor at San Jose State who authored the report and led the team that compiled their findings through more than 200 statistics. “The central message is that the challenges we’re facing are rooted in systemic failures.”
According to the report, there are 10,394 unhoused residents in Santa Clara County, which includes 2,200 students in San Jose alone. The report also found that San Jose would need to build almost 8,000 homes each year to reach its 2031 housing goals, when the most homes it’s added in a single year since 2019 was 1,710…