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The article refers to a survey of low-income Mexican-American consumers in East Los Angeles, California and the retail trade serving this market segment. Consumers showed a preference for cultural reinforcement by shopping in local markets where Spanish is spoken and Mexican foods are available. They also had a high level of satisfaction regarding business practices and prices. Statistics show the size of grocery, clothing, and furniture or appliance stores most frequented, price differentials for five items, price comparison for an automobile purchased by Mexican-American and Anglo-White shoppers, and loan practices are mentioned, as well as the price-quality relationship and challenges of adapting a business to an ethnic community.

Assessment caps on property taxes are often assumed to benefit affluent homeowners the most with little gains for low-income households. Quantile regression results for Los Angeles County show that on average effective property tax rates decrease by $1994 per year due to length of ownership in the 50th percentile because of California's Proposition 13 assessment cap. There is evidence of both horizontal and vertical inequity across the entire sample. Low-income households do benefit from California's assessment cap as they are typically infrequent movers but their effective tax rates decrease over time. However, the most affluent households by market value do not gain the most and there is no evidence of horizontal inequity for these homeowners. There is also no evidence of horizontal inequity for middle-income households. Property tax savings vary between $18,000 and $40,000, depending on the assessed value decile and percentage quantile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from 66 446 low-income adults who participated in the California Health Interview Survey are used to describe trends in food insecurity between 2001 and 2009. Food security was assessed using the short form of the Household Food Security Survey Module. There was a statistically significant increase in food insecurity between 2001 and 2009, from 28.6% to 40.5%. During the same time period, the prevalence of very low food security nearly doubled, from 8.3% to 15%. The increase in food insecurity remained significant even after controlling for differences in income, employment status, participation in food assistance programs, and other sociodemographic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on issues related to low-income consumers in non-urban marketplaces. Two small rural towns were selected as sites for the study. The criteria used in selecting each community were — the town had to have a representative number of low-income residents, the total population of the town had to be between 5,000 and 10,000, Blacks, Chicanos, and Anglos had to be represented among the town's low-income populations, the two towns could not be located in the same geographical region, and the town was to be far enough away from any large metropolitan areas as to minimize the reliance of its residents on other than local shopping facilities. The last three criteria severely limited the list of prospective towns. The need for Chicanos in the sample, for instance, largely restricted the study to the southwestern states plus Colorado and California. The towns finally selected were Gonzales, Texas and Paso Robles, California. From these two towns, 195 respondent families were selected.

The article discusses the work of the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) and the California group OneJustice in assisting low-income people with civil legal matters as of March 2013, focusing on NYLAG's Mobile Legal Help Center and OneJustice's Justice Bus Project. The New York State Courts Access to Justice Program is mentioned, along with an analysis of the assistance provided by the Mobile Legal Help Center to the victims of Hurricane Sandy.