blog post The End of Affordable Connectivity? By Joseph Hayes, Eric Assan May 15, 2024 This month marks the end of a federal program that helped low-income households afford internet access. Nearly 3 million California households—half of those eligible—were enrolled.
blog post Commentary: State Water Regulators Are Listening to and Learning How to Promote Conservation By Ellen Hanak, David Mitchell May 6, 2024 In an op-ed for the Sacramento Bee, senior fellow Ellen Hanak and adjunct fellow David Mitchell commend the State Water Board for adjusting its draft urban water conservation regulations back in March. They say the changes will give needed flexibility to struggling water agencies and help protect low-income customers from extreme rate hikes.
blog post Are California’s Foster Youth Claiming the State’s New Tax Credit? By Caroline Danielson Apr 9, 2024 Last year, California implemented the Foster Youth Tax Credit in an effort to alleviate poverty among young adults with a connection to the foster care system. We examine how this credit is working so far.
blog post California’s Cradle-to-Career Data System Hits Major Milestone By Iwunze Ugo Apr 2, 2024 The California Cradle-to-Career (C2C) Data System is an ambitious effort to strengthen the education pipeline by linking educational, social services, and workforce data from a range of state agencies. The C2C system recently received its first annual submission—more than a billion data points—from partnering agencies.
blog post Why Have US and California Jobs Numbers Diverged? By Sarah Bohn, Jenny Duan, Marisol Cuellar Mejia Mar 28, 2024 Though unemployment statewide remains low by historical standards, California's recent job growth has been notably slower than growth in the nation as whole. A look at the state's major employment sectors helps explain why.
blog post Revised Estimates Show Weaker 2023 Job Trends in California—but There Are Signs of Strength By Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Julien Lafortune, Sarah Bohn Mar 15, 2024 Revised data show that California experienced weaker job growth in 2023 than originally estimated. However, January’s job report shows signs of an improving labor market, especially in sectors such as tech and administrative services that had struggled last year.
blog post Learning Recovery for Homeless Students Lags behind Other High-Need Groups By Brett Guinan, Julien Lafortune Mar 13, 2024 In the last in a series on K–12 students who have experienced homelessness, we look at how these youth are faring academically. While learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic affected all student groups, students experiencing homeless are falling behind other high-need learners as California emerges from the pandemic.
blog post The Colorado River’s Hydrology is Changing. Can We Adapt? By Letitia Grenier, Sarah Bardeen Mar 4, 2024 The Colorado River’s hydrology is changing—and the dwindling water supplies are hitting Southern California hard. We sat down with Colorado River Board of California’s chairman JB Hamby and Metropolitan Water District’s Bill Hasencamp to find out what’s next for the river.
blog post California’s Economy—Past, Present, and Future By Sarah Bohn Feb 29, 2024 As part on an ongoing series celebrating PPIC's 30th anniversary, Sarah Bohn—who directs the new PPIC Economic Policy Center—reflects on key trends and transformations in the state's economy over the last three decades.
blog post Student Homelessness Rises to Pre-Pandemic Levels By Brett Guinan, Julien Lafortune Feb 26, 2024 Nearly a quarter million K–12 students in California experienced homelessness at some point during the 2022–23 school year. After three years of declines, the state's homeless student population has returned to pre-COVID levels.
