High cost of living in CA

High Cost of Living in California

Social issue

Many people believe that living in California is such an amazing experience. The weather, palm trees, beaches, in-n-out, celebrities, and diversity are a few things that many people often talk about when California is being discussed. Although people from other states think California is great in so many ways, they often forget to think about is how expensive it is to live in California. According to Investopedia, the cost of living is the amount of money needed to sustain a certain level of living including basic expenses. The cost of living takes many factors into consideration such as housing, food, transportation, child-care, out of pocket health expenses, utilities, and taxes.

Research:

• One in three California households (33%)—nearly 3.3 million families—do not have the sufficient income to meet their basic costs of living (Block et al. 2018).

• Raising the minimum wage will produce a surge in purchasing power that will reverberate throughout the region, especially low-income communities (Flaming et al. 2015).

• Families with inadequate incomes are found throughout California, but are the most concentrated in the northern coastal region, the Central Valley, and in the southern metropolitan areas (Block et al. 2018).

• Today, an average California home costs $440,000, about two-and-a-half times the average national home price ($180,000). Also, California’s average monthly rent is about $1,240, 50 percent higher than the rest of the country ($840 per month) (Taylor 2015).

• Nearly 4 in 10 households in California (38%) pay more than 30% of their income on housing (Block et al. 2018).

 (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/us/california-today-housing-costs.html)

(https://smartasset.com/mortgage/the-cost-of-living-in-california)

Personal statement

This issue is important to me because I have lived in California for my entire life, so I know from personal experience how high the cost of living is here. As I get older, I notice that although the minimum wage in California continues to increase, so does the prices for other necessities such as food, gas, transportation, housing, child-care, etc. The minimum wage is clearly not enough for families to live comfortably with such high cost of living in California. Grocery shopping in CA is not cheap either, the prices in each grocery store varies and usually increases monthly. I use to spend $40 weekly on groceries in September, but in October I spent at least $60 weekly. Not only does the high cost of living in California affect me, but also many people who are low income earners. There are not enough resources such as housing for families who are low income earners, the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in California goes for more than $1,200; and that is definitely too expensive and out of my budget when I can move to another state and get a nicer and bigger apartment for that same price. It's really sad to see other families leave California and move to another state and basically start over because they can not keep up with these basic necessities. Another thing that is included in the high cost of living in California is the cost of transportation. The average cost of gas at the moment is almost $4 per gallon, which sucks because I have to go to school, work, and other places in order to get my life together but how can I when gas prices keep rising and rising by the minute? I believe it is time we take some action against the high cost of living in California.

Voices from the community

As residents that live in California and the Los Angeles area we know from experience how horrible the high cost of living is here. We both have lived in California for our entire lives and it sucks having to see friends and relatives that have lived her for years leave because they can't afford living here. 
- Jesse G. and Kim M. 

The high cost of living in California is a social issue that affects many people including myself. Now that I am a high school graduate looking for a job in order to help my family with the bills, it is hard to keep up. This issue has been an eye opener for me because it makes me think about how many other people are struggling trying to make a living in California. 
-Anthony G. 

References
Block, B.B, et al. (2018). Struggling to stay afloat: The real cost measure in California. United Ways of California. Retrieved from: https://www.unitedwaysca.org/images/RealCostMeasure2018/Struggling-to-Stay-Afloat-Full-Report.pdf

Flaming, Daniel, et al. “Los Angeles Rising: A City That Works for Everyone.” Economic Rountable, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Mar. 2015, economicrt.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/LA-Rising-final1.pdf.

Staff, Investopedia. “Cost of Living.” Investopedia, 17 Oct. 2018, www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cost-of-living.asp.

Taylor, Mac. “California's High Housing Costs - Causes and Consequences.” Legislative Analyst’s Office, 17 May 2015, lao.ca.gov/reports/2015/finance/housing-costs/housing-costs.pdf.