Oxnard study finds roadblocks to young adult health, education
Oxnard adults aged 18-34 report significantly worse health than their peers across the state and are less likely to have health insurance, researchers from UCLA told the Oxnard City Council Oct. 8.
The researchers presented these findings and much more from a city-commissioned study at the council meeting, putting concrete numbers to some of the obstacles facing the city’s young adults.
Among the study’s findings:
Young adults are more likely to attend some form of college, but about half as likely to have a bachelor’s degree. They are more likely to have jobs, but predominantly in fields with limited opportunity for upward mobility.
None of the data seemed to surprise the city councilmembers on the dais or the community leaders — from local schools, agencies and advocacy groups — who filled the chambers.
“If you’re a community member in Oxnard, we didn’t hear anything shocking,” Councilmember Gabriela Basua said after researchers finished their presentation. “It was reality. We live in it, but now we see it on a piece of paper.”
The city commissioned the study from UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, led by professor Veronica Terriquez. City spokesperson Katie Casey said the city paid $300,000, drawn from federal American Rescue Plan Act funding.
City manager Alex Nguyen said the study was a tiptoeing departure from the domain of municipal government, but a needed tool to address issues like housing affordability and food insecurity.”When we look at this kind of information, we understand that we can only push the cost of housing down so much. We must push the wage earning power of our residents up as fast as we can,” he said. “Even if I could build 1,000 affordable housing units in Oxnard tomorrow, most of our families still cannot afford those units.”
Nguyen said the new reams of data will help the city apply for major philanthropic investments.
“There are some foundations that make large, large investments, multi-year investments, into communities just like Oxnard,” he said. “We just need to ask them. With this study, I can ask them with a straight face.”
Terriquez worked alongside professors from Oxnard College and CSU Channel Islands, along with teams of Oxnard College students, to build a survey of more than 3,000 Oxnard young adults. The UCLA professor and some of the student researchers presented details from four reports at the Tuesday night meeting, combining census data with the survey results.
Alongside a general report on the study’s findings, three other reports drilled down on health insurance access and the respective experiences of Oxnard College students and indigenous migrants.
“You’ve got a vibrant community that is invested in the well being of its young people, and you’ve got young people who really want a better future for themselves and their family,” Terriquez said. “My hope (is that this study) will help validate some of the things that folks already know about their community and give us some numbers to help inform the decisions of the City Council and other community partners.”
Data highlights
Oxnard young adults are far from ambivalent about college: 46% of those surveyed by researchers said they expect to earn a bachelor’s degree someday and almost all said they believe a degree would benefit them or their family.
National education data shows that 56% of graduates from Oxnard Union High School District schools, which include those in Camarillo, El Rio and Port Hueneme, attend some form of college. That’s significantly higher than the statewide rate of 46%.
But just 22% of Oxnard young adults aged 25-34 actually hold bachelor’s degrees, compared to 41% across the state, according to census data. The report tabbed a number of reasons for the gap, including low high school diploma rates for Oxnard residents who migrated to the U.S. as adults, Oxnard natives who left the city after earning a diploma and home financial obligations that derail some students’ academic ambitions.
Across the state, 72% of young adults have jobs, but in Oxnard, 76% of young adults are employed.
A large proportion of those jobs, however, are in retail (17% of employed young adults), restaurants and bars (10%) and what the U.S. Census categorizes as agriculture, mining and utilities jobs (13%). All three of those industries, the report says, tend to offer fewer benefits, less financial security and fewer opportunities to advance.
About 11% of Oxnard young adults work in health care or social assistance jobs, slightly above the state average rate. Those careers, the report says, can offer better outlooks, especially with proper training.
Job prospects may also have something to do with the city’s lower than average levels of health insurance access. About 80% of Oxnard young adults have health insurance, according to state data, compared with 90% statewide.
Among immigrant young adults, the gap was even higher. Only about half of the group have health insurance in Oxnard, according to census data, compared with 80% statewide.
While the percentage of Oxnard young adults who receive public health insurance is approximately the same as their peers across the state, there was a notable difference in the percentage who receive insurance from their employers in Oxnard (57%) and statewide (66%).
Isaiah Murtaugh covers education for the Ventura County Star in partnership with Report for America. Reach him at [email protected] or 805-437-0236 and follow him on Twitter @isaiahmurtaugh and @vcsschools. You can support this work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.
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