California Divide

Covering income inequality across the state

Though critical to the economy, California’s young workers toil in low-wage work

Young people are stuck earning low wages, working long hours — often while going to school — and often without benefits or work protections. Their hardships may hamper the state’s economy for years to come, researchers said.

By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

Families carry boxes full of fresh produce during a food bank event at El Verano elementary on Nov. 1, 2019. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

How hungry is California? Millions struggle to eat well in an abundant state

How bad is California hunger? A lot depends on your access to food aid, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic but is being reduced.

By Rya Jetha, Jeanne Kuang and Jeremia Kimelman

A family visits booths. Somali Family Service, one of the groups receiving state anti-hate money, hosted immigrant families, including refugees and asylum seekers, at a resource fair in San Diego on Sept. 9, 2023.

From films to counseling — how California is spending $90 million to fight hate

Hate crimes were up 20% in California in 2022, with those against transgender, Muslim and Black people increasing especially sharply. But the state is also spending more than any other to combat such crimes, including a hotline, state commission and a new round of grants to community organizations.

By Felicia Mello

Farmworkers work on a field outside of Bakersfield in Kern County on July 25 2023. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

After farmworker’s death in Fresno-area heat, UFW and Sen. Padilla say it’s time for stronger protections at work

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and the United Farm Workers union say a recent death in a tomatillo field was due to heat, but a coroner's report doesn't back that up.

By Nicole Foy

An employee stocks refrigerated items at a Grocery Outlet store in Pleasanton on Sept. 15, 2022. Photo by Terry Chea, AP Photo

California Divide

California grocery workers fear merger layoffs. Newsom vetoes bill that would have paid severance

The governor signed two other bills that strengthen protections for grocery workers during grocery store mergers and acquisitions.

By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde • October 11, 2023

California Divide

Newsom’s veto lets California counties continue taking foster kids’ money

States across the United States are banning the practice of billing kids for the cost of their foster care. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar effort in California, citing costs to the state.

By Jeanne Kuang • October 9, 2023

People protest in front of InterContinental Hotel as unionized hotel workers in Los Angeles and Orange County go on strike, in Los Angeles on July 2, 2023. Photo by David Swanson, REUTERS

California Divide

Labor leaders despair but don’t give up on unemployment for strikers after Gavin Newsom veto

Newsom announced on Saturday he vetoed two labor measures, one that would have given strikers unemployment benefits and another that would have made domestic work safer.

By Denise Amos and Felicia Mello • October 1, 2023

Burger King employee Yolanda Santiago cheers “¡Si Se Pudo!” or “Yes, We Could!,” with fellow workers before Gov. Gavin Newsom signs legislation supporting the rights of fast food workers and boosting wages to $20 an hour during a press conference at SEIU Local 721 in Los Angeles on Sept. 28, 2023. Photo by Alisha Jucevic for CalMatters

California Divide

Gavin Newsom signs law boosting minimum wage for fast-food workers. Is $20 enough?

More than half a million fast food workers, mostly minorities and women, will earn higher minimum wage because Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a fast food bill Thursday. But some say that’s not a living wage.

By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde • September 28, 2023

Screen Actors Guild members and Writers Guild of America members picket at the Amazon Culver Studios in Culver City on June 17, 2023. A bill would pay strikers unemployment benefits. Photo by Julie A Hotz for CalMatters

California Divide

After hot labor summer, will Gavin Newsom sign bill giving unemployment benefits to striking workers?

A union-backed bill that would make strikers eligible for California's unemployment benefits awaits the governor’s signature. Businesses say it’ll cost too much.

By Felicia Mello • September 25, 2023

Pablo Silva at the parking garage where he states he slept on his first night in Sacramento, after arriving via a chartered flight from San Antonio, Texas, with a group of fellow migrants. Sept. 9, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

California Divide

He doesn’t know who flew him to California. A year later, this migrant’s future is uncertain.

Pablo Silva, a Venezuelan asylum-seeker, was among the first migrants flown from Texas to Sacramento last September. His struggles foreshadow what other migrants may face as they're also shipped to California with little or no preparation.

By Justo Robles • September 20, 2023

McDonald's workers, including Lizzet Aguilar, celebrate winning a state retaliation claim against a Boyle Heights franchise location. Four workers won more than $100,000 in lost hours, penalties and backpay after they alleged the owners illegally retaliated against them for making a workplace safety complaint during the pandemic. Photo by Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, CalMatters

California Divide

As more Californians allege on-the-job violations, labor groups say bosses retaliate

More workers are filing claims with the state alleging employers are retaliating against them for engaging in legally protected activities, such as seeking overtime pay or reporting wage theft or discrimination. The state’s waitlist for investigations and hearings is growing, and few workers have won their claims.

By Jeanne Kuang and Alejandra Reyes-Velarde • September 1, 2023

Entrika Zacarias sits in her home at Oasis Mobile Home Park in Coachella Valley on Aug. 23, 2023.

California Divide

Coachella Valley farmworkers lost hundreds of dollars during storm Hilary. Financial aid options are slim.

Many farmworkers in Coachella Valley lack legal status as citizens and don't qualify for most federal and state disaster aid. Even a new $95 million storm assistance program for immigrants that Governor Gavin Newsom recently touted is out of reach because it pertains to the winter and spring storms and floods.

By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Nicole Foy • August 30, 2023

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California Divide

Covering income inequality across the state

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