Economy

Low-wage workers will ring in the new decade with bigger paychecks as a round of minimum wage hikes takes effect on Jan. 1. Currently, the state minimum wage is $11 an hour for businesses with 25 or fewer employees and $12 an hour for larger employers. Beginning Jan. 1, both those rates will increase by […]

We covered how Californians were affected by the workings — or non-workings — of their state government. Here are highlights:

Burmese doctors dish sushi at a restaurant, a Jordanian computer engineer drives for Uber, and a Nepali non-profit program officer stocks shelves at a Walmart. Nearly 2 million college-educated immigrants labor in jobs for which they are overqualified, or cannot find work at all.   The “brain waste” phenomenon is costing California and other states billions […]

Small rural schools have long had a hard time competing for state school bond money. But that may change with the state bond on the ballot in March.

Public companies headquartered in California have until Jan. 1 to name at least one female director. The new law has prompted some widely anticipated  lawsuits — and some surprising boardroom diversity. 

The latest in our video playlist of new California laws-in-a-minute: A ban on discrimination against renters with Section 8 vouchers.

The Trump administration finalized a rule Wednesday that will cut off food stamps to roughly 688,000 American adults by requiring states to enforce work requirements. The U.S. Agriculture Department said the move will save about $5.5 billion over five years. The rule takes effect in April 2020. “This is about restoring the original intent of […]

Are robots coming for your job? Why is pay falling behind as productivity rises? What about college? And could unions save California's middle class?

Oscar Serna is still waiting for wages he is owed from working in the farm fields of California and Texas more than 70 years ago.  Serna was 16 when he came from Mexico and was hired under an agreement between the U.S. and Mexico governments to work in the fields, where he picked oranges and […]

It’s a Catch-22: to get good credit, consumers must first have good credit scores. Programs like the one run by the nonprofit Mission Asset Fund bridge informal traditional lending practices with the mainstream financial system.