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Fast food workers from across California rallied at the state Capitol in Sacramento, urging lawmakers to pass AB 257. Aug. 16, 2022, Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters

California Divide

Covering income inequality across the state

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California’s gap between rich and poor is among the largest in the country, and it is widening. We explore how income inequality is reverberating across the state.

California Divide
Time is running out for the braceros
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 […]
By • November 25, 2019
California Divide
Cities step in to halt last-minute evictions
Eufemia Aguilar has lived in her two-bedroom apartment on North Sanborn Road in Salinas for about 10 years. A garlic peeler at Christopher Ranch, she rises at 2:30 a.m. every day, packs her lunch and heads to work, leaving her 20-year-old son and 5-year-old grandson to sleep.  There are lots of problems inside her apartment […]
By • November 18, 2019
California Divide
Newsom outlines investment plan for San Joaquin Valley
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $10 million plan to improve Fresno’s public schools during his visit to the city on Friday. Newsom delivered the keynote speech during the second day of the eighth annual California Economic Summit, which brought together over 800 civic and business leaders in downtown Fresno. “I care deeply about this damn Valley […]
By • November 8, 2019
California Divide
Economic summit: $4.2-billion Fresno investment plan announced
The Central Valley Community Foundation announced a plan to attract $4.2 billion in investments to revitalize Fresno at the eighth annual California Economic Summit. More than 800 civic and business leaders from across the state met in downtown Fresno on Thursday for the first day of the two-day summit organized by the nonprofit California Forward. State and local stakeholders […]
By • November 7, 2019
photo of San Francisco skyline, illustrating the pressures of the local housing crisis. Photo Stephanie Vacher/Creative Commons
California Divide
Nearly half of San Francisco families are financially insecure
Despite San Francisco’s higher-than-average median household income, nearly half of all families in the city have less than $2,000 in savings and are financially insecure, a report released by the nonprofit Urban Institute today found. That makes them more vulnerable to eviction and missed payments in the face of an unexpected job loss or medical […]
By • November 6, 2019
California Divide
For California well owners, clean water is hard to get as state, local hurdles remain
Water is scarce and dirty for many in Fresno County’s small West Park community. They’re not alone. It’s a common and persistent challenge for residents throughout California who rely on water wells. Residents in West Park, an unincorporated cluster of houses and buildings on the southwestern outskirts of Fresno, say they have stopped drinking the […]
By • October 31, 2019
California Divide
Central Coast project would raise water bills, endanger aquifer, opponents say
Activists and local government officials across Monterey County have banded together to fight a proposed desalination plant that could double the cost of water for some residents and endanger an aquifer that serves low-income communities. Opponents say the plant could cause saltwater to seep into the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin, the aquifer that provides freshwater […]
By • October 24, 2019

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News and analysis on poverty and income inequality in California.
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