Report Finding 30% of L.A. Children in Poverty Draws Swift City Response

After hearing Friday that more than 30% of children in Los Angeles live below the poverty line, several City Council members said the city must change the way it allocates money to better help children in poor neighborhoods.

If “the measure of a great city is what we do for our children,” said Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, “then Los Angeles has a lot of work to do.”

The report, presented to the council by the Commission for Children, Youth and Their Families, says the federal poverty level is defined as an income of about $17,000 a year for a family of four.

In an often impassioned debate, council members used the report to advocate more of everything, from after-school programs to affordable housing to parks.

Councilman Ed Reyes called on his colleagues, particularly those from wealthier districts, to take on homeowner associations and preservation groups battling the creation of affordable housing, which he said is crucial to improving many children’s lives.

“Are we doing something about [the housing crisis]?” he asked, hoisting a map showing concentrations of poverty in the city. “I can tell you we are not.... You have an opportunity to bring this challenge to your district.”

But Councilman Tom LaBonge, whose district encompasses wealthy portions of the Hollywood Hills along with poorer neighborhoods near downtown, cautioned that city officials must tread carefully to avoid disrupting neighborhood character.

“There needs to be a balance,” LaBonge said, noting that many residents in his district could have fled the city for suburban enclaves such as Santa Clarita or Temecula. “They like their neighborhoods,” he said.

“I am not saying we need to destroy neighborhoods,” Reyes responded. “But homeless children and families need relief now,” he said. “We have to make it one city.”

Many council members said Friday that, judging by indicators such as the report, Los Angeles is not one city. Pockets of poverty are concentrated in certain sections. In council districts located near downtown, more than 75% of children and teenagers are classified as members of families listed as the working poor or in poverty, meaning a family of four gets by on less than $34,000 a year. Meanwhile, in Council District 5, which runs from Encino over the Santa Monica Mountains and through the Westside near Beverly Hills, fewer than 20% of children are in that situation.

The report also showed that nearly 10,000 Los Angeles youths were on probation in 1999, many of them concentrated in South Los Angeles. The report also said only 45% of the city’s high school graduates took the SAT and that mothers in South Los Angeles were less likely to have prenatal care than women in other areas.

Councilman Martin Ludlow said he thought it was unfortunate that council members hadn’t seen the report before they approved the city’s $5-billion budget.

“Resources should be based on need and not allocated equally across 15 districts,” he said.

“We’ve got more work to do to lift children” out of poverty, Ludlow added. “As a council ... we’ve got to be bold enough and big enough to address it.”