Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Economic Well-Being By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Rachel Lawler, Deja Thomas Nov 9, 2022 Amid rising prices and economic uncertainty, more than two in three Californians are pessimistic about how the state’s economy will do over the next year. An overwhelming majority of employed Californians are at least somewhat satisfied with their jobs, but satisfaction declines among lower-income residents.
blog post Testimony: Getting to Graduation on Time at California State University By Jacob Jackson Nov 19, 2020 PPIC’s Jacob Jackson testified before the Select Committee on Student Success on increasing the share of CSU students who graduate in four years by encouraging them to take full course loads early in college.
Fact Sheet Who Are California’s Workers? By Tess Thorman, Jenny Duan, Sarah Bohn Jan 26, 2024 Most of California’s 19 million workers earn wages or salaries. Californians work in a variety of occupations and sectors, and wages vary widely across regions and demographic groups.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: Targeted K–12 Funding and Student Outcomes By Julien Lafortune, Stephanie Barton Oct 6, 2021 Under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), more money now reaches high-need districts, and these districts spend most of that money on schools with greater need. Students are seeing some benefits from the LCFF, as seen in higher test scores, though disparities by student income, race, and language status remain large.
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 For Many Californians, Poverty Is One Minor Expense Away By Tess Thorman Dec 17, 2019 More than 7 million Californians live near poverty, with just enough resources to meet their basic needs.
Report Higher Education in California: Student Costs By Jacob Jackson Nov 12, 2014 Increases in tuition across California’s public four-year universities have heightened concerns about the affordability of a college education, especially for those with the lowest incomes. In-state full tuition at the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) has risen more dramatically than at other public universities in other states over the past decade. During this same period, the federal, state, and institutional grant and scholarship programs that help make college affordable for students from lower- and middle-income families expanded. This helped lower-income families keep up with rising tuition, but the full price of college beyond tuition can still be a relatively large share of their income. Given the importance of higher education to California’s economic future, policymakers at the federal, state, and institutional levels need to make a continuing commitment to keep college affordable for students from low- and middle-income families. Also, given current tuition levels, it is more important than ever for the state to ensure that all students fill out financial aid forms and can easily access tools that can help them understand the financial aid packages they are offered.
blog post A New UC Tuition Policy Could Provide Predictability, but at a Cost By Jacob Jackson, Idalys Perez Jul 21, 2021
blog post California’s Farmworkers and Their Children Are Vulnerable to Food Insecurity By Paulette Cha Apr 25, 2023 Farmworkers—90% of whom are immigrants—have access to a patchwork of food assistance programs. For many, this patchwork does not include all of the nutritional safety net programs that help reduce poverty across the state.
