- Description
This report takes a dramatically different approach to assessing the state's performance. Instead of relying on traditional economic analysis, Measure of America's A Portrait of California uses the human development approach to tell us how people are doing. Three dimensions -- a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living -- are examined in detail and presented along a simple ten-point scale: the American Human Development (HD) Index. A Portrait of California brings together data, innovative analysis, and the American HD Index methodology to enable "apples-to-apples" comparisons of California's counties, major cities, 265 Census Bureau -- defined areas, women and men, and racial and ethnic groups. It provides a gauge of how different groups of Californians are doing in comparison to one another and a benchmark for tracking progress over time.
