The Small California Farm Town That Puts Kids First

Against All Odds, Gonzales—Population 9,000—Offers Services That Touch the Lives of All Its Young People

What if California actually decided to put the needs of its poor kids first? What would that look like?

Here’s one answer: it might look like Gonzales, a small city of 9,000 people—many of them farmworkers—along Highway 101 in the Salinas Valley.

The people of Gonzales don’t have educational credentials (less than 10 percent of adults over 25 have a college degree) or wealth (the median income is less than $17,000 annually). But they do have one incredible resource: youth. Thirty-six percent of the population is under the age of 18, and …

by Joe Mathews | January 14, 2019

Why Are California’s Children’s Hospitals So Much Nicer Than Other Services for Kids?

A System of Medical Centers Has Grown Up—and Offers an Example of a More Generous Golden State

by Joe Mathews | September 17, 2018

I wish California children were doing as well as California children’s hospitals.

Even as the Golden State has maintained the nation’s highest child poverty rate, underfunded its schools, and made housing …

Could California’s Population Actually Shrink?

As the Golden State Hits 40 Million This Summer, Trends Point to a Less Populous—and Challenging—Future

by Joe Mathews | July 16, 2018

This should be the summer when the population of California finally surpasses 40 million.

We should celebrate by reflecting on just how small we are.

Of course, we won’t. California, like an …

Dancing in New Orleans to Overcome Division

A Crescent City Transplant Creates a Diverse Non-Profit, and Finds a New Home

By Laura Stein | June 22, 2017

Five years ago, I moved from New York to New Orleans. The reasons included a need to escape from the New York grind, a lover’s terminal brain cancer, and a …

How Voting Selfies Brought Down South Korea’s Conservative Majority

Social Media Campaigns Are Boosting Youth Turnout and Curbing the Influence of Elderly Voters

By Yoon Lee | November 8, 2016

Korean elections are no longer driven by the old.

For more than 16 years, older voters in Korea dominated politics, giving the conservatives a big advantage—and a majority in the national …

Putting Kids on the Map

A Youth Wellbeing Report Card for the State Shows California Barely Makes the Grade

By Nancy Erbstein and Sergio Cuellar | October 19, 2016

In 2010, faculty and staff affiliated with the UC Davis Center for Regional Change, where we work, set out to build maps showing how California’s youth are doing at the …

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