California and the American Human Development Index

Abstract

DOI 10.1515/cjpp-2012-0002 Calif. J. Politics Policy 2012; 4(2): 25–48 Research Article Sarah Burd-Sharps, Kristen Lewis California and the American Human Development Index Abstract: Roughly one in every eight Americans calls California home. The state is a vital source of America’s food, leads the nation in innovation, and ranks first among the states in terms of economic activity. Viewing California strictly through the lens of money and economics tells only one story. The American Human Development Index tells what is happening in the lives of ordinary people. Keywords: California economy; California ethnicity; California population Sarah Burd-Sharps, Social Science Research Council, e-mail: sarah@measureofamerica.org Kristen Lewis, Social Science Research Council, e-mail: kristen@measureofamerica.org Roughly one in eight Americans calls California home. The state leads the nation in innovation, as measured by the number of patent application filings, and ranks first in terms of economic activity, as measured by gross state product (nearly $1.9 trillion).1 A vital provider of America’s food, California produces nearly half of all US- grown fruits and vegetables. If California were a country, it would have the world’s eighth-largest economy. Yet viewing California strictly through the lens of money and economics tells only one story. The American Human Development Index aims to tell another story: what is happening in the lives of California’s people. California is a state of contrasts, being home to people with vastly differing levels of well-being. In The Measure of America 2010–2011: Mapping Risks and Resilience, the latest iteration of the national human development report series, California as a whole ranked 12th of the 50 states and Washington, DC, on the American Human Development Index. This series applies a widely accepted inter- national approach for assessing the well-being of different population groups: the human development approach. The centerpiece of this work is the American Human Development Index, a composite measure made up of health, education and income indicators and expressed as a single number from 0 to 10. While Californians are already aware that disparities exist within their state, the American Human Development Index provides an easily understood 1 Bureau of Economic Analysis, “Economic Downturn Widespread among States in 2009.”