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 - We make this comparison across several different types of h ouseholds, with varying numbers of adults and children: For a single parent with three children, the statewide minimum wage is right around the poverty level.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/3

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

Nov 16, 2022 - As  a  result, we  can say that the “real ” value of the state ’s dollar h as declined 10 percent. Lowers Quantity of Services. One of the most common impacts of elevated inflation for spending programs is a reduction in the quantity of state services provided.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4647

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

The 2025-26 Budget: Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development

Mar 18, 2025 - Research suggests that it is less common that programs lead to h igher employment or earnings after the subsidy ends. Subsidized employment programs appear more likely to result in long-term benefits when: (1)  employers have a business model that makes it realistic for them to hire participants full time after the program ends and (2)  the target population is women or long-term unemployed workers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5018