blog post California’s Jobs Recovery Has Been Stronger than We Thought By Sarah Bohn, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Julien Lafortune Mar 25, 2022 While overall employment is still below pre-pandemic levels, the pace of the COVID recovery is unprecedented. Still, some key sectors of the economy have been slower to rebound.
blog post Testimony: Cybersecurity Needs and Higher Education By Hans Johnson Oct 10, 2017 California can best serve the growing number of students who want to pursue technology jobs by taking advantage of the strengths of each segment of its public higher education system.
blog post Essential Workers and COVID-19 By Sarah Bohn, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Julien Lafortune Mar 31, 2020 Many essential workers in health care, transportation, and other sectors are not well equipped to weather the economic challenges of the COVID-19 crisis.
Report Will California Run Out of College Graduates? By Hans Johnson, Sarah Bohn, Marisol Cuellar Mejia Oct 12, 2015 California’s higher education system is a critical driver of the state’s economic progress. As the state’s economy continues to change, will its workforce be ready for the jobs of tomorrow? This report updates and extends projections of California’s workforce skills through 2030, focusing on the supply and demand for workers with a bachelor’s degree. We find that the state will fall about 1.1 million college graduates short of economic demand if current trends persist—a problem we call the workforce skills gap. Even the arrival of highly educated workers from elsewhere is unlikely to be large enough to fill this gap. Today’s college graduates have better economic outcomes than those who do not hold a bachelor’s degree. Over time, college graduates have seen lower rates of unemployment and higher wages than other workers—even through the Great Recession—suggesting that college degrees have become increasingly valuable in California’s labor market. The future workforce skills gap looms large. But California and its higher education institutions can take several practical steps to close it. The core of a new plan for higher education should include increasing access to the state’s four-year institutions, improving college completion rates, expanding transfer pathways from community colleges, and being smart about aid programs.
blog post Poverty and Well-being in California By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn Sep 21, 2015 California is one of 12 states in which poverty declined last year, according to newly released US Census statistics.
blog post High Poverty Rate Persists By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn Jun 10, 2015 Although the state’s economy has rebounded, the latest poverty statistics suggest there’s been little improvement in the share of Californians struggling to make ends meet.
blog post Testimony: Access to Anti-Poverty Programs for Californians in Need By Sarah Bohn Mar 17, 2021 In legislative testimony, PPIC’s Sarah Bohn discussed the economic effects of the current downturn and the role of safety net programs in addressing poverty and related challenges.
