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Taking Stock of California’s Capacity to House its Homeless Population
Given recent increases in homelessness—and the prevalence of unsheltered homelessness—in California, programs that can prevent and mitigate homelessness and housing instability are more urgently needed...
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Does Transfer Reduce Regional Enrollment Gaps at CSU and UC?
California’s public universities rank among the top at boosting economic mobility yet large regional differences in access persist. Among first-time freshmen at CSU and UC, California students from...
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The End of Affordable Connectivity?
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted and increased the importance of digital technology and internet-based services. Now that people are using the internet for school, work, health care, banking, and...
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California’s Cash-Based Safety Net
Cash assistance programs help low-income Californians meet basic needs. According to the California Poverty Measure (CPM), cash-based programs kept 1.8 million Californians—including 760,000...
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Inflation Has Affected Family Spending
Inflation has remained stubbornly high for almost a year. Last week’s report of a 0.1 percent decrease on the annual rate of inflation, which reversed the worsening trend of previous months, was...
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New FAFSA Form May Trigger Drop in College Enrollment
The deadline to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and California Dream Act Application (CADAA) for UC and CSU came and went on May 2, and completion rates by California high...
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How Has Poverty in California Changed over Time?
PPIC has been measuring poverty in California since we first opened our doors in 1994. We knew that to make effective and efficient policy, decisionmakers needed a reliable baseline of economic...
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Video: California School Districts and the Emergency Connectivity Fund
How well did federal pandemic funds improve digital access for historically underserved K–12 students and their families? Last week, PPIC researcher Joseph Hayes presented new findings on efforts to...
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Little Diversity, Wide Wage Gaps: California’s Ten Largest Occupations
California’s workforce is one of the most demographically diverse in the US. However, there is a pronounced lack of diversity within many occupations in the state. Across California’s ten largest jobs,...
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Examining the Reach of Universal School Meals in California
School meals have long played a key role in promoting students’ physical well-being, and California became the first state to provide free school meals to all children regardless of income in 2022–23....
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California’s Workforce Is Diverse, but Many Occupations Are Not
Despite California’s highly diverse workforce, many types of jobs are predominantly filled by people from a specific demographic group, making them almost homogenous. In fact, this phenomenon—sometimes...
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Policy Brief: Learning from CalFresh Pandemic Boosts
During the COVID-19 pandemic, federal action boosted food assistance for low-income families enrolled in CalFresh, the state version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)....
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Learning from CalFresh Pandemic Boosts
Key Takeaways Emergency allotments were increases to CalFresh from March 2020 to February 2023 that ensured that every CalFresh household received the maximum amount for their household size. The...
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Learning from CalFresh Pandemic Boosts
Emergency allotments increased CalFresh benefits during the pandemic, although the lowest-income households did not see an initial boost. PPIC researcher Tess Thorman will present findings on how this...
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Video: Learning from CalFresh Pandemic Boosts
How did the largest pandemic-era increases to CalFresh, California’s version of the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), affect resources, work, and participation among eligible...
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California’s Health Care Safety Net
Millions of Californians rely on the health care safety net. The health care safety net is a patchwork of programs and providers that deliver coverage and care to people with low incomes, no private...
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Testimony: Achieving Funding Equity in LCFF Grant Design
On October 17, 2024, PPIC senior fellow Julien Lafortune spoke about funding education on two panels for the California State Assembly Budget Subcommittee No.3 on Education Finance and Assembly...
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California’s Housing Divide
Homeownership has historically been a primary strategy to build intergenerational wealth, especially among middle-income households. In California—with the second-lowest homeownership rate in the...
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Is California Experiencing a Water Affordability Crisis?
There’s a growing perception that there’s a water affordability crisis in California, but as with most water issues, the reality is more complex. PPIC Water Policy Center founder and senior fellow...
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Working Helps Keep Californians with Disabilities out of Poverty
Since 2021, Californians with disabilities have seen significant employment gains for the first time in over a decade. Flexibilities introduced during the pandemic—like remote work—are one way labor...
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