California Divide

Undocumented families, aging homes, high unemployment: The root causes for a cluster of evictions in this Southern California blue-collar port city.

A new report found a dramatic decrease in Californians’ reliance on payday loans as a direct result of pandemic-related government assistance, including unemployment benefits, rent relief, eviction moratoriums, stimulus checks and loan forbearance. But experts warn that use of payday loans is expected to rebound once government assistance ends.

California’s high cost of housing and child care are creating such a burden on working families that millions of households don’t make enough to meet their most basic necessities. The United Ways of California, which put out the study, advocates for expanding eligibility so assistance doesn’t fall off just as families attain economic stability.

Lawmakers have agreed to pay off $2 billion of Californians' utilities debt, but haven’t extended the shutoff moratoria past Sept. 30. One family's experience of surviving a heat wave without water or power reveals what’s at stake.

California lawmakers OK funding programs to guarantee some people — especially foster youth and pregnant women — an income floor.

Lea este artículo en español. Monthly $300 payments are in the works for California families struggling to make ends meet. The IRS begins the roll-out of the Child Tax Credit on July 15 as part of the American Rescue Plan. Qualifying households will receive up to $3,600 annually per child, which will benefit families across the state. On […]

Experts say the Supreme Court decision to restrict union organizers from farms could have an unintended consequence: an increase in labor trafficking of farmworkers.

A longtime labor activist and a member of the executive board of SEIU-United Service Workers West was stabbed to death at a Los Angeles apartment development as he tried to stop a teenager from entering the building to attack his girlfriend.