Economic Inequality

Despite state programs, low-income and minority applicants struggle to break into legal cannabis market.

California's pandemic safety net programs are straining under overwhelming demand. So did Gov. Gavin Newsom overpromise or underdeliver?

Cracked roads and blocks of wilted grass and dirt envelop the Edison High School campus in the heart of west Fresno. Police cars, churches and liquor stores abound. But trees, grocery stores, hospitals, parks, restaurants, and banks remain out of sight. Meanwhile, across Highways 180 and 99 heading north toward Bullard Avenue, there is another […]

The pandemic has layered a health crisis on top of a housing crisis on top of a class divide. A clear pattern has emerged as the coronavirus spares some California neighborhoods and strikes others: The virus takes a heavier toll in neighborhoods where people pack into overcrowded homes, according to a CalMatters analysis of neighborhood-level […]

Until the pandemic struck, every day for the last 10 years, Isidoro Flores Contreras stood at the edge of the Sand City Costco parking lot, just a few feet from a set of McDonald’s arches, selling $15 flower bouquets.  No matter the weather, he slowly walked back and forth along the sidewalk, a hitch in […]

When coronavirus began spreading in California, public health officials told people who fell ill to isolate themselves in their homes for two weeks. But many California families simply can’t do that. Forced by the high cost of living, parents squeeze into rooms with their children, cousins sleep on couches, grandparents convert living rooms into bedrooms […]

Nathaniel Johnson walked past a CVS pharmacy in Hollywood with his phone camera trained on men running out of the looted store with armfuls of stolen goods. After a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, Johnson had protested police brutality for two days while dressed in civilian clothes. But that afternoon, he decided to change […]

Según el estudio, alrededor del 41% son trabajadores esenciales, pero carecen de acceso a las pruebas.

Lee este artículo en español. Seven of every ten residents of southeast Los Angeles County have lost their jobs or had their wages cut during the pandemic, and 40% have less than $500 in savings to help them survive the economic devastation, according to a survey released today. The survey was conducted for a Los Angeles […]

Los restaurantes son un microcosmos de la desigualdad estadounidense. La pandemia ha profundizado las divisiones económicas entre propietarios, gerentes y empleados que ganan el salario mínimo. Pero nadie sale ileso.