Chapter 9: Changing South - Poverty

Chapter 9 is about the Changing South, which Monterey County is not a part of. The chapter does talk about persistent poverty being a problem for the South, however, so I am going to talk a bit about Monterey County's poverty.

Food Line at Food Bank

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2009 the percentage of persons living below poverty in Monterey County was 17.2%, which was higher than the California poverty level of 14.2%. Childhood poverty also rose from 17% to 27%, meaning more than 1 of 4 children are living in poverty (in California and the rest of the country it's 1 in 5). The increase in poverty is due to the current recession and lack of jobs. Employment is actually decreasing and that means there has been "an increase in the number of people served by social services: families who need CalWorks, the state welfare program, and CalFresh, the state food and nutrition program."

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