San Francisco Solely Received Extra Childless Within the Final Decade
San Francisco has had one of the lowest percentages of school-age children and teenagers of any major city in the country for several decades. And the latest 2020 census figures show that SF’s youth as a percentage of the total population has only declined over the past decade.
We learned on Thursday, with the release of data for the purpose of redistribution by Congress, that SF’s population increased by approximately 90,000 people between 2010 and 2020. And while California and the country as a whole became more diverse, the demographics of San Francisco changed only slightly in the past decade, the proportion of whites decreased by 2.8%, the proportion of mixed race increased from 3% to 5% and other demographic shares moved up or down by less than a percentage point.
According to a Chronicle analysis, we now learn that the proportion of children under the age of 18 in San Francisco has fallen from 13.4% in 2010 to just 13% in 2020 – a continuation of a trend that dates back to 1990 when Young people made up 16% of the population of the city.
Growing up in San Francisco remains an uncommon thing caused primarily by a lack of affordable family housing and various other factors including a less than outstanding public school district.
Much of the Bay Area has a lower percentage of children under 18 than other parts of the country, but San Francisco has by far the lowest percentage – next in line are Sonoma, with nearly 20% of the population under 18, and Contra Costa County has the largest share at 22.6%.
What does this mean for the city as a whole? Unfortunately, this could mean a persistent lack of broad support for the school system, although an investment in the city’s schools could be effective in deterring families with young children from fleeing the city when those children reach school age.
Former supervisor Norman Yee, the Chronicle notes, wrote a policy briefing four years ago advocating the creation of more affordable family housing, saying, “If we lose our families, we lose some of what San Francisco is about a strong, vibrant church. “
And the former director of the planning department, John Rahaim, wrote in an introduction to the paper: “We have a responsibility to implement family-friendly housing policies that allow families from all socio-economic backgrounds to live and thrive here.”
But how can you reverse a trend that has been going on for 30 years, coupled with a time when fewer people are having children overall? The short answer: you probably can’t. But maybe they can prevent the percentage of children from falling any further.
Related: The release of census data shows the US and California are becoming more diverse – and San Francisco has gained 90,000 people
Photo: Jairo Gonzalez
