Updating the California Necessities Index

Aug 14, 2025 - Recent changes were made to the publication of statistics required to calculate the California Necessities Index, which is used to adjust certain benefit rates and cost-of-living adjustments. In this brief, we provide details on the changes and evaluate alternatives for the index that require only currently available data and conform to the original intent of the index.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5065

Updating the California Necessities Index [Publication Details]

Aug 14, 2025 - Recent changes were made to the publication of statistics required to calculate the California Necessities Index, which is used to adjust certain benefit rates and cost-of-living adjustments. In this brief, we provide details on the changes and evaluate alternatives for the index that require only currently available data and conform to the original intent of the index.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5065

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - Most Low-Wage Workers Live With at Least One Other Worker. Compared to mid-to-high-wage workers, low-wage workers are much less likely to live in households with exactly two workers and much more likely to live in households with three or more workers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/1

Local Sales Tax Rebates in 2023-24

Sep 16, 2025 - One-quarter of Californians live in a jurisdiction that paid rebates in 2023-24. Focusing on these areas, Figure  3 displays the distribution of rebate payments across jurisdictions, weighted by the number of residents.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5074

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - Single parents with one, two, or three children live in one-bedroom, two-bedroom, or three-bedroom apartments, respectively. An adult couple without children live in a studio/efficiency. An adult couple with one or two children live in a two-bedroom apartment.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/4

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - To address this possibility, we estimate the age distribution again, this ti me only for workers who have lived in the U.S. for at least one decade. Figure  2 displays the results. These estimates are very similar to the numbers in Figure  1, indicating that recent immigration does not explain those age patterns.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/2

The 2025-26 Budget: California’s Film Tax Credit

Feb 28, 2025 - The COVID ‑19 effect was short ‑lived and shoot days returned to pre ‑pandemic levels in 2021. In contrast, filming activity following the strikes has shown no signs of recovering so far, with shoot days slightly declining further in 2024.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5000

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - For the most common types of low-wage workers —those who do not have children or who live with at least one other worker —the minimum wage is at least two times the poverty level. Official Poverty Measure Paints an Incomplete Picture.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/3

The 2023-24 Budget: Considering Inflation's Effects on State Programs

Nov 16, 2022 - Cases in which program spending is adjusted by certain factors, like a cost ‑of ‑living adjustment (COLA). These factors are set and approved in state law. These adjustments require limited annual legislative input, particularly when continuously appropriated.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4647

The 2022-23 Budget: Fuel Price and Other Fiscal Relief Options

May 12, 2022 - This prioritization involves considering which Californians the Legislature believes are most in need of financial relief —such as those who consume the most fuel, those who own cars, those who ride transit, those who have the least financial resources, or all who live in the state (given higher overall  prices).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4597