Gov. Gavin Newsom often boasts that California, if it were a country, would have the world’s fourth-largest economy. But despite its wealth, the state has also seen a sharp increase in poverty since the COVID-19 pandemic, and newly released data shows the disparity lingers.
The bureau used a poverty measure that considers some, but not all, aspects of California’s infamous cost of living.
“We’re not surprised to see this poverty rate,” said Tracy Weatherby, chief impact officer of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, which manages a network of food banks. “We see it in the community every day, how much people are struggling to get by.”…