blog post College Graduates and California’s Future By Mark Baldassare, Hans Johnson Nov 16, 2017 California’s population and economy are changing, and its higher education institutions need to increase both college enrollment and completion rates.
blog post Testimony: The Need for College Graduates in California’s Future Economy By Hans Johnson Nov 1, 2017 California needs to enroll more students in college—especially in our four-year institutions—and ensure greater success of those already in college.
blog post Housing Costs and Higher Education By Hans Johnson Oct 17, 2017 Higher education is not often considered part of a housing agenda, but it has played an important role in shielding many Californians from the state’s dramatic increases in housing costs.
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.
Fact Sheet The California Economy: Unemployment Update By Sarah Bohn, Marisol Cuellar Mejia Apr 5, 2017
blog post The Employment Value of Higher Education By Sarah Bohn Jul 22, 2016 Higher education is a key determinant of how people fare when the economy slows.
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.
Fact Sheet The California Economy: Underemployed and Discouraged Workers By Sarah Bohn, Monica Bandy Dec 19, 2014
Report Child Poverty and the Social Safety Net in California By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn Sep 29, 2014 Because economic hardship is associated with a host of adverse outcomes, particularly for children, policies that can give children a better start in life are especially important. This report focuses on measuring material hardship among children across the state. Using the California Poverty Measure—which accounts for both family earnings and safety net resources and adjusts for work expenses and housing costs—we find that one-quarter of California’s children are in poverty. An additional 26 percent of children live in households that are "near poor,” or somewhat above what is often referred to as the poverty line. In short, about half of California’s children are poor or near-poor. Poverty rates, earnings, and the role of safety net resources all vary by region. But most poor children live in "working poor” families, with one or more working adults. And, without resources from the social safety net—which includes the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, CalFresh (California’s food stamp program), CalWORKs (California’s welfare program), and housing subsidies—there would be far more children in poverty throughout California.
