Report Reducing Child Poverty in California: A Look at Housing Costs, Wages, and the Safety Net By Sarah Bohn, Caroline Danielson Nov 14, 2017 Nearly a quarter of young children in California live in poverty—a fact that has profound educational, health, and economic repercussions now and in the long term. High housing costs and low wages are key barriers to reducing the prevalence of child poverty. Lawmakers have taken action to address these issues: the minimum wage is slated to increase to $15 an hour by 2022, and recently enacted laws aim to ease the state’s housing crisis.
Report The Impact of Expanding Public Preschool on Child Poverty in California By Caroline Danielson, Tess Thorman Jun 17, 2019 High-quality preschool has many benefits, such as promoting early skill development in young children and supporting work among parents. More investments in public preschool could also help reduce child poverty by subsidizing an important family expense.
Report The Great Recession and Distribution of Income in California By Sarah Bohn, Eric Schiff Dec 7, 2011 In the Great Recession and its aftermath, family incomes in California declined across the spectrum. The percentage of Californians living in middle-income families fell to a new low of less than 50 percent. And the gap between the highest and lowest income families grew to its widest in 30 years. This report tracks these trends and considers the effects of unemployment on family income.
blog post Health Care and California’s Undocumented Immigrants By Shannon McConville Feb 25, 2014 Despite California’s embrace of federal health care reform, millions of Californians are expected to remain uninsured even five years from now. Undocumented immigrants are likely to be a large share of this uninsured group because they are excluded from coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
event Health Conditions and Health Care among California’s Undocumented Immigrants Nov 2, 2023 Insights into the health care needs of undocumented patients can help the state prepare for the expansion of Medi-Cal to all low-income Californians. PPIC researcher Shalini Mustala will present a new report on the health of undocumented patients and the services they tend to use; report lead author Paulette Cha will moderate a panel discussion about the series of Medi-Cal expansions and other safety net investments that benefit undocumented residents.
blog post CalFresh during the Pandemic By Caroline Danielson Oct 21, 2020 Enrollment in CalFresh, the state’s largest nutrition safety net program, has risen substantially during COVID-19. Still, many California households report not having enough food and lack a connection to the nutrition safety net.
blog post Starting the Year with Less (Real) Money By Sarah Bohn, Julien Lafortune Jan 21, 2022 Over the last two years combined, prices have increased more than 8%. The impact on family economic well-being is especially large for those at the lower end of the income spectrum.
Report How Living Wage Laws Affect Low-Wage Workers and Low-Income Families By David Neumark Mar 1, 2002 Since 1994, nearly 40 cities in the United States have passed living wage ordinances. These ordinances mandate that businesses under contract with the city, and in some cases businesses receiving assistance from the city, pay employees a wage sufficient to lift their families out of poverty. This report examines the actual experiences of cities implementing such laws, focusing in particular on the following questions: Do living wage laws raise wages for at least some low-wage workers? Are wage gains for low-wage workers offset by either reductions in employment or the amount of hours worked as employers seek to accommodate the additional labor costs? Do living wage laws achieve their stated policy objective of improving economic outcomes for low-income families? Do the laws reduce urban poverty? Given the stated antipoverty goal of living wage campaigns, why do the laws generally restrict coverage to city contractors, rather than imposing wage floors for broad groups of workers?
blog post Many Low-Income Families Left Out of Federal Stimulus Benefits By Tess Thorman, Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn Apr 24, 2020 Federal stimulus checks during COVID-19 will reach an estimated four of five California families, but many of the lowest income families won’t get assistance.
