These are the aims of ConnectOC, an initiative of the Orange County Community Foundation with support from visionary leaders, generous donors and hardworking organizations across our community. ConnectOC surfaces local knowledge vital to the county’s well-being—and suggests strategies and opportunities to make life better for all of us who call Orange County home.
Research Breaks It Down. Together We Can Build It Up.
The issues are connected:
SAFETY NET
High cost of living and unemployment create extraordinary challenges for people living in deep pockets of poverty adjacent to great affluence
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Families who struggle with basic needs are more likely to suffer from poor health and well-being, which negatively impacts children’s educational achievement
EDUCATION
Lack of education drives lower incomes and limited ability to meet basic needs, creating a negative cycle that can continue for generations
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2012
Safety Net
The MINIMUM QUALIFYING INCOME to own a home was
$68,000
per year
HEALTH & WELLNESS
82.8%
of Orange County residents have ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE
Education
only 46%
of Orange County third graders read at a proficient level
2022
Safety Net
The MINIMUM QUALIFYING INCOME to own a home is now
$175,000
per year, an increase of 157%
HEALTH & WELLNESS
93.1%
of Orange County residents have ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE
Education
only 32%
of Orange County third graders read at a proficient level
Safety Net in 2012
Hanging By a Thread
Outside appearances paint Orange County as a vibrant community filled with happy, active families and a thriving economy. But what you don’t see on the surface tells the tale for thousands of Orange County residents who are unemployed or underemployed, homeless or insecure in their housing, and hungry or hard pressed to find adequate food for themselves or their children.
Nearly half of OC students live in families making the equivalent of $40,000 or less per year for a family of four
To rent a one-bedroom apartment at minimum wage, an Orange County resident must work 133 hours a week.
While household incomes for many Orange County residents are well above the sixfigure mark, more than 220,000 Orange County children—nearly half of enrolled K–12 students—live in families making the equivalent of $40,000 per year for a family of four.
Significant income disparity coupled with high cost of living challenges many families and individuals to meet even the most basic needs. Oftentimes, multiple families must share crowded living spaces. Seventy percent of Orange County’s homeless are families with children. And one in five Orange County children lives without a reliable source of healthy food.
Safety Net in 2022
Looks Can Be Deceiving
OC’s median household income is significantly higher than at the state and national level, unemployment rate has been consistently below state and federal rates, and poverty is also below both averages – as these appearances mask the true story — OC’s high cost of living, primarily housing costs, has reached a crisis point for many families.
Affordability Crisis
Wages and income growth have not kept pace with cost-of-living, primarily skyrocketing housing costs. Housing affordability remains a concern at the state and regional level, and certainly is for Orange County in particular. Orange County home prices have almost doubled over the past decade and have remained significantly higher than most other parts of the state.
The combination of wages not keeping up with rapidly increasing housing costs tells an important story — OC is becoming less affordable for younger residents, especially young families. More workers relocating to cheaper surrounding counties and commuting in; fewer younger families and their children; students that county taxpayers have invested in from kindergarten to college leaving and working and paying taxes elsewhere.
As a result, OC is aging rapidly and has the highest median age in Southern California – 39.2 years, higher than the state and nation as a whole. OC has more 55+ residents and fewer younger residents than Southern California as a whole.
Facing the Issues
- Concentrated pockets of high unemployment adjacent to regions of affluence create extraordinary challenges for people trying to make ends meet.
- Many residents are homeless, unstably housed or living with other families in crowded apartments or homes.
- Startling numbers of OC residents— including children—go hungry on a daily basis.
Education in 2012
Bridging the Gap
We like to think of our classrooms as level playing fields where any ambitious student can reach his or her full potential. But while a number of Orange County schools are beating the odds, many students are left on the other side of a growing achievement gap that becomes harder to overcome without sufficient resources and support.
Only 55 percent of Orange County third graders read at a proficient level
Helping every child receive a high-quality education is one of the best ways to ensure a productive, successful future. But a startling number of Orange County students don’t have access to the necessary skills and resources they need to succeed.
Children who start school behind their peers are likely to slip further and further behind. Schools, under pressure to stick to a fast-paced curriculum, are not always equipped to provide enough individual attention to help kids catch up. And parents who struggle economically have less time—and often, ability—to help with schoolwork.
The Academic Performance Index (API) is a measurement of academic performance and progress of individual schools in California. In 2011, 70 percent of Orange County schools met the state API target of 800, with scores ranging from 921 (Irvine Unified) to 740 (Santa Ana Unified).
And yet not all schools are performing on par. Even districts scoring above the state target demonstrate academic disparity: Newport-Mesa Unified, a district with pockets of both extreme wealth and poverty, scored above target. However, individual schools within the district ranged between 685 and 950—a microcosm of the divisions within Orange County.
Once students reach high school, the educational divide becomes even greater. Only 38 percent of Orange County high school students complete courses required for California State University and University of California admissions.
Students who fall behind may end up not graduating from high school or continuing their education, which can have a major impact on their earning potential, ability to meet basic life needs, and involvement in their own children’s education in the future.
Facing the Issues
- The proportion of English language learners in Orange County is higher than state and national averages.
- There are only enough licensed pre-school slots for half of 3- to 4-year-olds in Orange County; research shows this is a critical driver of success.
- Public schools lack resources necessary to address the achievement gap. Funding shortages result in larger class sizes and fewer school days.
Education in 2022
School Readiness
One of the positive trends we’ve seen in the last 10 years is the increased attention to early childhood development and school readiness. Thanks to the work of First 5 Orange County and their community partners, there have been wonderful advancements in ensuring children are ready for kindergarten.
From school readiness, one of the next biggest educational milestones is the third grade reading level. We’ve heard a lot about learning loss due to COVID remote and hybrid school. And while we need to be careful about interpreting the impact of COVID because testing participation varied last year, literacy rates appeared to have declined for 3rd graders.
Up through 3rd grade kids of learning to read, after 3rd grade, kids are reading to learn. This 3rd grade reading level milestone is fundamental to long-term academic success, and something we should monitor in the coming years.
Orange County’s overall graduation rates and UC/CSU eligibility have greatly improvement over the last 10 years, and even through the pandemic, but we know that there are significant disparities as we take a closer look. Despite recent improvements, high school graduation rates continue to vary significantly among cities, socio-economic status, and by race/ethnicity.
Facing the Issues
- More research needs to be done to further determine the correlation between disparity in educational outcomes and racial equity, the pandemic-related learning losses while also looking into the role of schools to address the mental health crisis.
- The pandemic has fundamentally changed the future of the workplace and we have yet to determine the implications on education (e.g. hybrid workplace readiness, education medium), workforce (e.g. housing affordability and ability to work from home) and policy.
- More research is needed into college enrollment trends and its correlation to increased cost of living.
Healthcare in 2012
Failure to Thrive
Poor health impairs learning ability and quality of life, hurts productivity, and drains family savings. In Orange County, serious health issues for some threaten the well-being of the entire community.
The annual Well-Being Index, which polls Americans on factors such as emotional health, physical health, healthy behaviors and access to basic necessities, offers context and clues to the health of Orange County residents.
California is among the healthiest states in the U.S. and, as a community, Orange County ranks favorably overall. But a closer look shows significant disparities within the county itself. Of 435 congressional districts nationwide, two adjoining districts in Orange County rank on opposite ends of the spectrum.
The 48th district (mostly south Orange County) is one of the best-off in the nation, ranking in the top 3 percent for basic access to food, shelter and medicine and the top 2 percent for overall well-being.
However, the neighboring 47th district (central and north Orange County) ranks in the bottom 1 percent for basic access and the bottom 30 percent in overall well-being.
This stark contrast can also be seen within each district where pockets of poverty exist next to areas of affluence. Research shows residents in challenged communities bear a greater burden of illness, suffer from poor nutrition and exercise habits, and struggle to provide basic needs for their families. These disparities diminish the quality of life for our county as a whole.
Facing the Issues
- Many Orange County residents do not get the care they need because they are uninsured or underinsured and lack access to basic healthcare services.
- A staggering proportion of Orange County children and adults are overweight and struggle with obesity.
- Too many children and families are victims of violence and abuse.
Healthcare in 2022
Improvements in Access
One of the biggest factor in health and wellness in our nation is healthcare costs and the corresponding difficulty in access to health and wellness. Since 2012, we’ve seen a steady improvement in access to healthcare nation-wide. In fact, while California and our county were worse off than nation-wide in 2012, we’ve improved to be better than the nation. Even during the pandemic, uninsured rate continued to fall.
While this is indeed a great positive development, disparities in access persist, whether it is in race, income or education level.
A recent survey by CHOC indicates that we might have a mental health crisis in our hand – 80% of service providers, 67% of healthcare professionals and 45% of community members cite mental health as a significant health problem. So much so that last October, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and Children’s Hospital Association have declared a national emergency in children’s mental health, citing the serious toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on top of existing challenges.
Facing the Issues
- Mental health issues in children and youth were already increasing before the pandemic. They were worsened by isolation, family stresses, and lack of social connectedness during the pandemic. Respondents to a CHOC survey also identified increases driven by a decreased sense of safety at school, increased community violence, low levels of connectedness at school, and greater self-reported use of social media and screen time
- There is a lack of recognition that chronic health conditions such as diabetes increase the child’s risk of developing mental health problems by 2-to-5 times.
- Leading institutions such as CHOC and its supporters are investing heavily in this but raising the awareness throughout the community has to be a critical step.
Acknowledgements
ConnectOC reflects the combined efforts of many dedicated organizations and individuals since it was developed in 2012. We gratefully acknowledge Paul Kagoo and Dr. Wallace Walrod, for contributing fact-based research and expertise in the development of the ConnectOC community report refresh for 2022.
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