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Policies for Creating and Keeping Jobs in California

By David Neumark, Emma Wohl

State efforts to spur job creation include 21 programs ranging from tax credits to worker training. Three policies offer strong evidence indicating they create jobs or increase employment in California. New programs—and programs with weak evidence—need to have built-in features that allow deeper evaluation.

Report

A Hiring Incentive that Works: The California Competes Tax Credit

By David Neumark, Matthew Freedman, Benjamin Hyman, Shantanu Khanna

Established in 2013, the California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC) boosts firm employment and payroll growth within California by as much as 30 percent within three years. This growth benefits a wide range of workers and is greater in parts of the state with higher levels of poverty and unemployment.

Report

Factors and Future Projections for K–12 Declining Enrollment

By Julien Lafortune, Emmanuel Prunty

Over the past five years, enrollment has fallen in nearly three-quarters of California school districts, and the trend is expected to continue into the next decade. Faster declines could bring pressure to close schools, along with concerns about the students and neighborhoods bearing the costs of downsizing.

blog post

Video: A Conversation with California’s Public Higher Education Leaders

By Vicki Hsieh

PPIC president and CEO Tani Cantil-Sakauye talks with leaders from across the state's higher education systems—UC president Michael V. Drake, CSU chancellor Mildred García, and California Community Colleges executive vice chancellor Aisha Lowe—about their priorities for expanding educational opportunity.

Fact Sheet

Financing California’s Public Schools

By Julien Lafortune

K–12 funding has been at record-high levels in recent years, and California’s per student spending is now slightly above the national average. Spending is higher for low-income students, English Learners, and foster youth. However, enrollment declines, rising costs, and the expiration of pandemic funding pose fiscal challenges for school districts.

blog post

A Better Way to Promote Urban Water Conservation

By David Mitchell, Ellen Hanak

Californians have been making great strides in water conservation in recent years. Now the State Water Board is considering new urban water use regulations whose statewide costs would far exceed their benefits—and significantly impact affordability. Are there better approaches? We take a look.

Statewide Survey

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Economic Well-Being

By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Lauren Mora, Deja Thomas

Key findings include: A record-high 71 percent of Californians believe that children growing up in the state today will be worse off financially than their parents. Three in ten workers fear losing their jobs to new technology like artificial intelligence. A majority say that California will have bad economic times in the next 12 months; about half approve of how Governor Newsom is handling jobs and the economy.

blog post

Soft Landing? What the Latest Data Says about California’s Economy

By Jenny Duan, Sarah Bohn

New jobs data suggests that taming inflation has not hurt the state's labor market much. While unemployment in California has increased slowly since a low in August 2022, the state's labor market still shows many markers of strength.

blog post

A Look at Demographic Differences in Poverty across Regions in California

By Patricia Malagon, Caroline Danielson

California's overall poverty rate rose between fall 2021 and early 2023, according to the most recent California Poverty Measure. We look at how poverty differs across the state and how it is linked to race, education, and other demographic factors.

Fact Sheet

The Working Poor in California

By Sarah Bohn, Caroline Danielson, Sara Kimberlin, Patricia Malagon

Most poor families in California are working. Poverty rates among working adults are highest in southern, coastal California.

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