Los Angeles On the Edge Part I: An Analysis of Health and Income Data from the U.S. Census Bureau

The data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau reveal that Los Angeles County is the capital of the uninsured, with more uninsured residents than any county in the nation. The data also reveal high levels of income inequality in the county and extremely low wages for many workers in 2008, the first year of the global recession. However, the data released today do not fully capture the impact of L.A. County’s economic downturn, which intensified in the latter part of 2008 and in 2009. But the bottom line is that many county residents have little to fall back on, making this recession particularly devastating for the region. Next week, on September 29, the U.S. Census will release data on poverty that will shed more light on how families and individuals were faring in 2008.