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California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage


Report

California's Changing Income Distribution

August 10, 2000 - In recent decades the distribution of adjusted gross income reported on California tax returns has shifted significantly, with the share attributable to the top 20 percent of returns rising and that for the bottom 80 percent falling. We examine the changes in California's income distribution and their causes.

Report

California’s High Housing Costs: Causes and Consequences

March 17, 2015 -

Living in decent, affordable, and reasonably located housing is vitally important to every Californian. Unfortunately, housing in California is extremely expensive and, as a result, many households are forced to make serious trade-offs in order to live here. While many factors have a role in driving California's high housing costs, the most important is the significant shortage of housing in the state's highly coveted coastal communities. We advise the Legislature to address this housing shortfall by changing policies to facilitate significantly more private home and apartment building in California's coastal urban communities.

See our February 9, 2016 follow up to this report: Perspectives on Helping Low-Income Californians Afford Housing.

Report

Welfare Reform in California: A Welfare-to-Work Approach

January 23, 1997 - In order to assist the Legislature in its efforts to formulate a welfare reform plan, we offer a welfare-to-work approach (or "model") for consideration. Our approach is based largely on the principles, or expectations, that (1) the welfare system should assist and encourage recipients to achieve self-sufficiency and (2) recipients should, as a condition of receiving aid, participate in activities designed to move them toward self-sufficiency.

Report

State Assistance to Businesses in Response to COVID-19

January 4, 2024 - This report provides an analysis of state assistance given to businesses in response to COVID-19. It includes: (1) background information on the state and federal programs that provided both broad and targeted relief to businesses; (2) a description of the industries that received the most public assistance; and (3) a description of the types of communities, defined using zip codes, that received more state and federal assistance. The report concludes with some findings and comments for the Legislature.

Report

[PDF] Options for a State Earned Income Tax Credit

December 18, 2014 - In June 2014, the Legislature directed the LAO to prepare a report analyzing the costs, benefits, and trade-offs of various options for a state earned income tax credit (EITC) that would supplement the federal credit. This report discusses considerations for adopting a state EITC and provides three options for the Legislature's consideration.