The Census Bureau’s latest household pulse survey paints a concerning picture of financial hardship in the Inland Empire region of California. Among the 15 largest US metropolitan areas, the area encompassing Riverside and San Bernardino counties has the highest share of respondents facing key measures of financial stress. Almost half of households, or 47.2%, cannot afford their usual expenses, and approximately one-third, or 32.6%, have had difficulty paying an energy bill in the last year. The survey also reveals that one in seven households, or 14.3%, experienced food insecurity in the previous seven days, with individuals reporting they did not have enough to eat at home sometimes or often. Despite a boom in the warehousing industry during the pandemic, the Inland Empire has been showing signs of an economic slowdown more recently. The metro area’s unemployment rate has jumped to 5.5% in the past two years, surpassing the national average. Inflation in the area is also higher than the country’s average, further straining household budgets. The Census Bureau initiated the household pulse survey at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic to provide policymakers with up-to-date data on the well-being of Americans. The survey measures extreme poverty indicators, including difficulties paying everyday bills, as well as employment, housing, and overall well-being. The situation varies across California. In San Francisco, over 85% of adults have no trouble paying their energy bills. In contrast, over a quarter of Los Angeles households, or 26.3%, reported an inability to pay their energy bills in full during the previous year. Houston has the highest rate of food scarcity, exacerbating the metropolitan area’s overall poverty levels. Conversely, the proportion of people facing financial stress in Boston, Seattle, and Washington, DC, is lower than the national average. Nationwide, 23.3% of adults live in households that struggle to pay an energy bill, and more than one-third of adults, or 34.1%, have found it somewhat or very difficult to cover usual household expenses in the last seven days.
Inland Empire Struggles with Financial Stress and Access to Basic Necessities
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