POVERTY CLIMBS IN A.V. CENSUS: AREA SUFFERING SINCE 1990 DOWNTURN.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Even while average household incomes were climbing, the proportion of Antelope Valley residents living in poverty jumped in the 1990s, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In most Antelope Valley communities, the percentage of people with incomes below the poverty level more than doubled from 1989 to 1999, with worse results in outlying communities such as Mojave and Lake Los Angeles, according to 2000 Census economic information released Tuesday.

``I'm not surprised at that one bit,'' said Diane Grooms, regional vice president of the Antelope Valley United Way. ``We know we have a lot of people living two families to a house ... It's amazing what people live on.''

The Census Bureau statistics show how much the Antelope Valley's economy suffered, and its demographics changed, from the high point of the home-buying, aerospace industry bubble that burst after 1990.

Many families are doing well financially - more than 62 percent of households in Lancaster, and nearly 64 percent in Palmdale, make $25,000 to $100,000 a year - but there also has been an influx of people with no jobs and few resources, or who lost jobs after moving in, according to people who work with the poor locally.

Most Antelope Valley communities still had a lower poverty rate than Los Angeles County overall, which also climbed in the 1990s. The county average was nearly 18 percent in 2000, up from 15.1 percent in 1990. The state average was 14.1 percent in 2000.

Edwards Air Force Base had the lowest poverty level, 1.3 percent, followed by Acton at 3.5 percent, the only two communities where the poverty rate declined during the 1990s.

Quartz Hill had 11.9 percent, Rosamond 14.1 percent, Palmdale 15.8 percent, Lancaster 16.4 percent.

The Census Bureau defined poverty as an income below $13,874 for an adult and two children in 2000, and an income below $10,530 in 1990.

In Lake Los Angeles, average household income declined from $40,049 to $38,794. The percentage of its people living in poverty more than tripled, from 7.2 percent in 1990 to 23.1 percent.

In Littlerock, the percentage of individuals in poverty jumped from 10.3 percent to 23.7 percent as the median household income declined from $42,048 to $39,000.

Mojave had the highest local percentage of individuals in poverty: 36.2 percent of the population, up from 18.3 percent in 1990. Median household income was the valley's lowest, at $24,761, down from $27,500.

Boron went from 9.9 percent in poverty to 19.7 percent even as its average household income surged from $31,338 to $40,625. California City residents in poverty went from 8.0 to 17.3 percent as its average household income climbed from $36,693 to $45,735.

Even before the Census released its figures, there were indications that a high percentage of local residents was living in poverty, Grooms said.

That was evident, she said, in the numbers of people who show up at hospitals without medical insurance or through reports from schools about children whose families can't afford school supplies or the fees for field trips.

``We have families that are doubling and tripling up. We have people living in their cars, people who bounce from one friend to another, staying for a couple days,'' said Steve Baker, executive director of Grace Resource Center, a Lancaster food bank. ``It breaks my heart.''

Grooms saw more poor families moving in together in valley homes after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. The sign of that, she said, was a surge in requests for mattresses.

``They were bringing their San Fernando (Valley) relatives up here. They enrolled the children in school and they said, this is going to be a long-term recovery,'' Grooms said.

Baker's food bank, which provides about 6,000 people a month with groceries or hot meals, helps people whose situations are varied, he said.

Some are women who have moved to the valley to be close to husbands in the state prison in Lancaster. Others are retirees who suddenly are responsible for raising their children's children.

``I'm seeing people who have to make the choice between paying their utility bills and feeding their families,'' said Baker.

Sometimes a homeless woman and her children will show up at the Lancaster Metrolink station, after being put on the train by a Los Angeles church or community group, Grooms said.

``Their perception is life is easier, cheaper up here,'' she said.

Baker said he was not surprised that poverty rates were higher in Mojave, Littlerock and Lake Los Angeles, since even minimum-wage jobs are scarce there. He said he knows of Mojave residents driving to Lancaster for minimum-wage jobs.

Many retail store workers hold down two jobs locally to make ends meet, Grooms said.

``They'll work an eight-hour job during the day and work another four or six hours someplace else,'' Grooms said.

Baker said he hasn't seen much change at his center that would indicate improving conditions since the Census information was gathered.

``The numbers seem to stay pretty constant, but the faces change,'' Baker said.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

ANTELOPE VALLEY SNAPSHOT