This FACT SHEET accompanied the January-February 1997 Children's Advocate newsmagazine, published by Action Alliance for Children.

Fact Sheet: A Look at California's Children

Poverty/Economy

• More than one in four California children (2.6 million) live in poverty - which means an annual income of $10,632 for a mother and child or $16,000 or less for a family of four.
• Families with children make up the majority of the working poor (63%).
• California's child support system collects payments for less than 13% of the families in the system. More than $5 billion in unpaid support is owed to California children today.
• Of over 5.7 million Californians living below the poverty level - over 40% of whom are children - the majority are people of color.
• The number of single parent families has more than doubled from 1974. Almost 1/3 of families with children are headed by a single parent.

Health Care

• More than 80% of California's children who lack health insurance live in working families. Six out of ten working poor families lack health coverage.
• 1.9 million children in California have no health insurance.
• 25% of California's children are not immunized by age 2.

Child Care and Education

• Only 20% of eligible children receive subsidized child care in California.
• CA spends about $1000 less per pupil than the national average, has the highest ratio of students per teacher, and has the second highest class size in the nation.

Food/Hunger

• 1.8 million California children qualify for school lunch subsidies, which provide them with only 20% of the meals they need annually.
• 2,206,228 California children received food stamps in 1994, a 95% increase from 1989.
• 645,888 California infants and children participated in child nutrition programs in 1994.
• The good news is that funding for the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), confined to pregnant women and children under age five, has increased significantly.

Child Abuse/Neglect/Violence

• 664,000 children in California were reported abused or neglected in 1994.
• 88,262 children in California under age 18 are in foster care.
• 850 children in California ages 1-19 died from firearms in 1995. 15 of those children were under eight. 90% were boys.

Sources: Children's Advocacy Institute, Children's Defense Fund, Children Now, Pacific Center for Violence Prevention, CA Legislative Analyst's Office, US Census Bureau