New Census figures released today show promising gains in income and employment for Californians, yet also show that millions of California residents are still struggling to get by on extremely low incomes. These data underscore the need for policymakers to ensure that the economy’s recent gains are shared among all Californians. The latest Census figures […]
Many college students across the state experience food and housing insecurity. State and federal public supports have not kept pace with rising costs of living, leaving many students unable to meet their basic needs such as food and housing. Students facing housing and food insecurity are more likely to experience poor academic, health, and mental […]
The average full career (30 years work) pension for a retired public employee in California was $68,673 in 2015, not including benefits. This is in comparison to the average pay (not including benefits) for an active full-time worker in the private sector in California, which in 2015 was $54,326, and to the maximum Social Security Benefit for a high wage earner retiring at age 66, which in 2015 was $32,244. Put another way, the average public employee retiree with 30 years of service collects a pension (not including benefits) that is 26% greater than the average pay for a non-retired full time private sector worker, and more than twice the maximum Social Security benefit.
The East Contra Costa Fire District (ECCFD) has financial problems because it pays more for retirement benefits than it does in salaries to current employees. With most of its staff eligible to retire on the 3% at 50 formula and at least two current retirees receiving more than $100,000 annually, the district is functioning as more of a retirement plan than as a firefighting unit. Rather than economize on its pension benefits, district leadership has closed fire stations and made repeated attempts to extract more taxpayer funds.
Facing insolvency, Santa Barbara’s Hope Elementary School district governing board laid off six full-time and three part time teachers, effective next academic year. . . During the 2016 school year, general fund expenditures exceeded revenues by $132,000. Among the district’s expenditures were a $146,000 contribution to CalPERS and a $458,000 contribution to CalSTRS.
We estimate that California state and local governments owe $1.3 trillion as of June 30, 2015. Our analysis is based on a review of federal, state and local financial disclosures. The total includes bonds, loans and other debt instruments as well as unfunded pension and other post-employment benefits promised to public sector employees. Our estimate of California government debt represents about 52% of California’s Gross State Product of $2.48 trillion. When added to the state’s share of the national debt, we find that California taxpayers are shouldering debt burdens on a par with residents of peripheral Eurozone states.
As an indicator of economic hardship, the US Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) improves on the official poverty measure by better accounting for regional differences in the cost of living as well as for the various resources (including non-cash benefits like food assistance) that families use to cover expenses.
SPM improves on the official poverty measure by better accounting for differences in the cost of living across the US. When California’s high housing costs are factored in, a much larger share of the state’s population is living in poverty: 20.6 percent under the SPM, compared to 15.0 percent under the official measure. Accounting for housing costs boosts California’s poverty rate to the highest of any state, up from 17th highest under the official poverty measure.
According to the most recent available information, California’s K-12 education spending lags the nation by almost any measure.
The California job market is getting closer to recovering from the Great Recession, but workers still face a diffi cult hiring environment. After losing 1.3 million jobs between July 2007 and February 2010, California has since added more than 2 million jobs.1 Despite this progress, the labor market is not yet back to pre-recession strength.
California’s workforce has undergone a number of large shifts over the last generation. The profile of who is working today differs in fundamental ways from more than three decades ago, and understanding these changes can inform how state policies could better promote the economic security of workers and their families. This “chartbook” highlights four key trends in how California’s workforce has changed and discusses what they mean for state policy.
Medi-Cal has expanded rapidly in recent years, largely due to California’s successful implementation of federal health care reform, and the program now provides affordable health care coverage to more than 12 million Californians with low or moderate incomes. The following discussion provides a more accurate and balanced perspective on the impact — and significance — of rising Medi-Cal enrollment under health care reform, a process that began with the passage of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 and fully took effect in California in 2014.