California Divide - CalMatters

Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters; iStock

California, U.S. on collision course on welfare work requirement

by Lynn La June 5, 2023June 5, 2023

President Biden signed on Saturday a last-ditch bill to raise the national debt limit that includes Republican-forced provisions for stricter work requirements on welfare recipients. But California is headed in the opposite direction. And that could lead to the state losing a big chunk of the federal grants that fund its CalWORKS program. As Jeanne […]

Anneisha Williams in El Segundo on Feb. 20, 2023. Williams decided to stop using traditional banking systems after a bank declined to refund her for money stolen out of her account by a hacker. Photo by Lauren Justice for CalMatters

California Divide

Helping the ‘unbanked’: California mulls entering banking business to serve disadvantaged consumers

by Wendy Fry March 9, 2023May 2, 2023

A homeless encampment near the Guadalupe River Trail in San Jose in Jan. 2022. Photo by Anda Chu, Bay Area News Group

California Divide

Silicon Valley’s vast wealth disparity deepens as poverty increased

by Alejandro Lazo February 17, 2023February 17, 2023

Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters; iStock

California Divide

Thieves drain millions off CalFresh and CalWORKs recipients’ cards, families wait and taxpayers pay

by Jeanne Kuang January 30, 2023May 24, 2023

A prep cook works in the kitchen of a San Francisco restaurant on May 14, 2020. Photo by Jeff Chiu, AP Photo

California Divide

A Workers’ Guide to Wage Theft: What to do if your boss steals your wages

by Lil Kalish November 2, 2022May 2, 2023

Rodrigo Hernandez, 50, finishes up a car after washing it outside of the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, in Los Angeles on July 21, 2022. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters

California Divide

Wage Theft: Car wash workers in $2.3 million case await pay 3 years later

by Alejandro Lazo and Lil Kalish August 25, 2022May 2, 2023

From left, Luis Diaz, 56, and Rodrigo Hernandez, 50, are part of a cooperative that is programmed by the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center in Los Angeles, an organization that ensures fair wages, health and safety protection. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters

Waiting for wages, three years later

by Emily Hoeven August 25, 2022August 24, 2022

A group of people at a homeless encampment in Oakland on March 19, 2020. Photo by Ben Margot, AP

California Divide

Do the rich see inequality as a zero-sum game?

by Jeanne Kuang May 12, 2022May 12, 2022

A woman and two children wear masks at a playground in Los Angeles on July 11, 2020. Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP Photo

California Divide

Advocates say California should send $2,000 per child to poorest families

by Jeanne Kuang April 19, 2022April 19, 2022

A man walks past an oil rig during sunset in Huntington Beach on Dec. 2, 2020. Ronen Tivony/REUTERS

California Divide

‘Just transition’ bill for oil industry workers exposes labor rift

by Jesse Bedayn February 17, 2022March 4, 2022