Struggling to Stay Afloat seeks to measure the real costs of living in California’s communities and increase awareness and understanding of the hardships families face in meeting them. Among the questions this report seeks to answer are: What is the true rate of financially challenged households? How many are led by working adults? What do we know about these households? What do their family configurations look like? What regions and communities struggle more than others? What do income challenges look like across race, ethnicity, and gender boundaries? We find that one in three households in California, over 3.3 million families— including those with income well above the Federal Poverty Level—struggle every month to meet basic needs.
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