The federal Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which improves on the official poverty measure (see note), shows that:
- 1 in 5 Californians (20.6%) struggle to afford basic necessities, up from 14.9% under the official poverty measure.
- Nearly one-quarter of children (23.8%) live in families struggling to get by — a larger share than for adults regardless of which poverty measure is used.
- Seniors are nearly twice as likely to lack adequate resources under this more accurate measure.