Jeanne Kuang/CalMatters
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Most college students don’t qualify for CalFresh, California’s food stamps program, despite high rates of food insecurity. A pandemic-era rule that made it easier to get aid ends soon.
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Workers who clean houses or take care of children and the elderly are in a class by themselves; they are not covered by state or federal workplace safety regulations. The exclusion has racist origins, advocates say.
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State and local governments, and some private funders, are launching dozens of pilot projects making direct, monthly payments to low-income residents to help meet basic needs. Researchers will study what happens next. Key question: will this money add to, reform, or supplant current welfare programs?
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What’s one of the driving forces of poverty and inequality? When the cost of living outpaces the growth in wages.
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For nearly three years, an increase in federal aid has allowed California to issue higher-than-usual amounts in food stamps. That ends in April.
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The EBT cards the state uses to deliver financial assistance to low-income residents lack security features common to credit and debit cards. California officials plan to upgrade. Meanwhile, they’re paying millions to replace stolen money and food stamps.
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Advocates warn now is not the time to cut programs that help the poor. The state has reserves to weather a tough year but a recession, which many economists say is likely, could deepen the deficit.
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The fast food and oil industries are only the latest to seek a referendum to stop, or at least delay, a law passed by the state Legislature. The return on investment can be huge — so much money that some are calling for changing the referendum rules in California.
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As California investigates businesses for wage theft, worker centers act as behind-the-scenes allies, helping convince employees to cooperate.
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The bill increases leave payments to 90% of paychecks for lower-income workers in 2025, so more of them can afford time off for maternity leave or to care for ill family members.
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Two days before deadline, after vetoing a similar bill last year and resisting months of marches, vigils and posturing, including a note from President Biden, California Governor Gavin Newsom changed his mind on a farmworker labor bill
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Five years after workers win wage theft claims, state records show only 1 in 7 were paid their judgments in full. Some companies appealed or ignored court judgments.