Destination Information

California’s fabled history has always been about new opportunities and chasing dreams, and the people who make them happen. From the young men who arrived during the Gold Rush to those who looked for a new start during the Depression, and every starry-eyed aspiring actress who heads to Hollywood today, the state has nurtured the dreams of men and women throughout its exciting and varied history.

California takes its strength from its diversity, and celebrates it. California's immigrant populations lend a flair to the state that you won't find anywhere else. Here, 39% of the population speaks a language other than English at home, meaning California has more foreign language speakers than any other state in the country. On city streets from San Francisco to Los Angeles, you'll hear Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Tagalog, Russian, Italian and more.

New age spiritualism, liberal politics, non-Western healing practices, and environmentalism flower here as nowhere else in America. You’ll find organic produce and vegetarian dishes on the menu at restaurants and mom-and-pop cafés alike. Independent bookstores still sell the works of the Beats, plus all manner of broad-minded literature. Stroll the rainbow flagged streets of the Castro, or take a side-trip to reclusive Bolinas in Marin County, and you’ll feel the alternative vibe.

Despite the national decline in child poverty and low-income rates in the United States since the early 1990s, the rates in California have surpassed those of the nation. This demographic profile of California’s low-income families highlights the high number and rate of low-income children in California. It also features several facts that challenge stereotypes about these families. For example, a large and growing majority of poor children live in working families, and as many of California’s poor children live in two-parent as in single-parent families.

This report illustrates the rapidly changing demographic picture of California’s poor and low-income families. Almost half of all California’s children are immigrants, and the large majority of these immigrants are Hispanic. The high poverty rates among these children require urgent attention in order to promote the healthy growth and development of this large and expanding part of California’s next generation.