Issues and Advocacy

For years California's working men, women and families enjoyed a good quality of life. However, the struggles for working Californian's are increasingly evident:

• California's cost of living is among the highest in the nation
• Housing costs are outpacing incomes
• Our health care system is in crisis
• We have the worst traffic and roads in the nation
• Poverty levels are increasingly worrisome
• Educational resources are becoming scarce

Working Californians deserve better. This section provides lnks to clips and studies shedding light on the problems we face. Click on the links above or scroll below to read more:

The High Cost of Living

Californians working at (or moderately above) the minimum wage face increasing struggles. This is particularly true for those living and/or working in metropolitan regions as illustrated by this story in the Daily News of San Mateo:

Right now, the wage is $6.75 although recently signed legislation will boost it to $7.50 in January and $8 the following year.

The extra $1.25 will generate about $2,600 annually and was heralded by lawmakers as a way to boost the average annual salary and help struggling families make ends meet. In counties like San Mateo, however, labor and service experts don't believe it is enough.

"Isn't it a nice coincidence that after vetoing it twice, the governor signs the bill in an election year?" said Reyna Lehman of the San Mateo County Central Labor Council.

The Income Gap Grows

In the year 2025, Orange County could look substantially different. The population will be older and more diverse, and the economy could be split by high-wage and low-wage jobs, with little of its manufacturing muscle left in the middle.
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"We could have a county of haves and have-nots, even more so than today," said Lucy Dunn, president of the OCBC, "generating a lot of low-income jobs with no real upward mobility.

Housing Costs Are High

The Census Bureau also found that California ranked second in both monthly housing costs for homeowners and monthly costs for renters.

The bureau says nearly half of California homeowners -- 48 percent -- spent more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing last year.

Poverty in California

California's poverty rate soars from 15th to 3rd in the nation when regional cost of living--omitted from federal calculations--is factored in and the most current poverty data are used.
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Between 1976 and 2004 the share of poor families with a full-time worker increased from 12% to 31% in California while holding steady at about 20% for the rest of the nation.

Cost of living in the Bay Area 62% higher

"It's easy to look at the wage survey and say, 'Wow, the Bay Area is doing great,' until you connect it to the cost of living," said Chloe Osmer, an official with the Oakland-based California Labor Federation. "Then you see that the American dream is slipping away here."

The high pay levels in the Bay Area in 2005 topped even well-known pricey regions such as New York City, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics study that was released Thursday.

Minimum Wage in Florida Lags Behind Living Costs

People like Amanda Barro, a 23-year-old with a 3-year-old and another child on the way, believe they have done considerably more than enter the work force.

Barro works 40 or more hours each week at the Steak 'n Shake in Port Charlotte, while her fiance works about 70 hours. They pay about $350 per month for private insurance, live in low-income housing and have seen the cost of just about everything rise in the past year.

High Housing Costs

SoCal Rents The Highest in the West

Rents rose an average of 6% in most of the state's biggest markets, Novato, Calif.-based research firm RealFacts said. Southern California remained the West's most expensive place to rent, and the San Francisco Bay Area saw the highest rent increases, RealFacts said.
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The average rent in Los Angeles and Orange counties rose 7.4% to $1,546 during the third quarter, making the counties the most expensive among 28 Western markets, said RealFacts, which surveyed 12,000 apartment buildings of 100 or more units in 15 states.

Homeowners Defaulting

The number of Californians who are significantly behind on their mortgage payments and at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure more than doubled in the three months ended Sept. 30, providing the latest evidence of trouble in the housing market, figures released Wednesday show.
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[I]n another disquieting sign, DataQuick reported that 19% of the owners who went into default earlier in the year actually lost their homes to foreclosure in the third quarter, more than triple the 6% in 2005.

Affordable Housing Far From Jobs

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Low- to moderate-income working families are finding that as they move further from work to afford housing they end up spending as much, or more, on transportation costs than they are saving on housing, according to a new study of 28 major Metropolitan areas nationwide...

While the share of income that working families devote to housing and transportation differed from Metro area to Metro area, the combined burden of the two expenses was remarkably similar across all areas. These combined costs range from a low of 54 percent in Pittsburgh to a high of 63 percent in San Francisco...

Housing Takes Up More Than 30% Of Income

Southern California suburb Temecula had 74 percent of renters paying at least 30 percent of income on housing, while another suburb in the region, Hemet, was second nationwide with 73 percent paying that level.

And there are places where renters and home owners are paying well above that level.

Housing Burdens Middle Class

The burden of housing costs in nearly every part of the country grew sharply from 2000 to 2005, according to new Census Bureau data being made public. The numbers vividly illustrate the impact, often distributed unevenly, of the crushing combination of escalating real estate prices and largely stagnant incomes.

While many of the highest home values were on the coasts, in places like Southern California and Manhattan, many of the biggest jumps in the percentage of people paying a burdensome amount of their income for housing occurred in the Midwest and in suburbs nationwide, making it clear that the housing squeeze has reached deep into the middle class.

Costs Hinder First-Time Buyers

Eighty percent of Americans believe it is difficult for most first-time buyers to afford a home, according to an AP-AOL Real Estate poll. Many people -- 59 percent -- believe the situation is worse now than five years ago.
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By region, 68 percent of those in the West and 63 percent of those in the Northeast say it is more difficult for first-time buyers to afford a home than it was five years ago. Fifty-four percent took this view in the South, and 51 percent felt this way in the Midwest.

California Costs Stand Out

Housing costs are increasing in the U.S. with California among he least affordable, according to a new study. "California stands out among the states with expensive housing costs," the Portland Oregonian reported. "It ranked No. 1 in median home value at $477,700; No. 2 in monthly housing costs for homeowners at $1,912; and No. 2 in monthly costs for renters at $973." In addition, the paper reported, "nearly half of California homeowners -- 48 percent -- spent more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing last year."

House Poor

California stands out among the states with expensive housing costs. It ranked No. 1 in median home value, at $477,700; No. 2 in monthly housing costs for homeowners, at $1,912; and No. 2 in monthly costs for renters, at $973.
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"We really are reaching the outer edge of the envelope of what people can manage," said Cynthia Kroll, senior regional economist at the University of California at Berkeley.

Bay Area Housing Costs Top 30% of Income

The Bay Area is home to some of the nation's highest housing values, and residents here are feeling the pinch: A higher percentage of them are stretch-ing to afford a home here than in most of the rest of the country, census figures released today show.

Nearly two-thirds of Hayward's homeowners were paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing in 2005, the data from the American Community Survey show, as were more than half who owned homes in Richmond, Daly City, Vallejo and Oakland.

Climbing Health Care Costs

Surgery in Singapore

Dismayed by high surgical costs in the United States increasing numbers of American patients are packing their bags to have necessary surgery performed in countries such as India, Thailand and Singapore.

Health Costs Exceed Inflation

Health insurance premiums this year rose 7.7 percent, the lowest growth rate in six years but still more than double the growth rate in inflation and worker earnings, according to the latest survey from Kaiser Family Foundation.

Indeed, that outsized growth has been the case in at least 12 of the past 18 years. Since 2000, premiums have risen 87 percent while wages have only gone up 20 percent and inflation has increased 18 percent.

Health Care Collapse

The American health system is rapidly approaching crisis. For those fortunate enough to have health insurance, health care costs are escalating -- health insurance premiums rose almost 14 percent in 2003, the biggest increase in over a decade. For the 43 million people who went without health insurance last year, the system has already collapsed.

Half Of Residents Without Care In Some Areas

"While lack of health insurance is a problem throughout Los Angeles County and the state, it is at crisis levels in some of these communities where as many as half of the residents may be uninsured and not have access to health care," said E. Richard Brown, Ph.D., director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

One in Six Uninsured in Contra Costa

"Contra Costa health care and business leaders met in Concord Friday to discuss the problems that rising health care costs present the business community and the county's general population," the Contra Costa Times reported on October 13. "According to a recent study distributed at the conference, almost one in six Contra Costa County residents are uninsured, the majority of them working adults."

Health Care Costs Threaten Economy

Rising health care costs, already threatening many basic industries, now consume 16 percent of the nation's economic output -- the highest proportion ever, the government said yesterday in its latest calculation.

The nation's health care bill continued to grow substantially faster than inflation and wages, increasing by almost 8 percent in 2004, the most recent year with near-final numbers.

Can't Keep Up With Premiums

"American workers cannot keep up with constantly rising health costs," according to a recent story in AFSME's Public Employee Magazine. "In California," the article continues, "insurance premiums have risen more than 70 percent over the last five years."

California Health Coverage Worse Than Most

California ranks very poorly when it comes to insurance its citizens, according to the United Health Foundation. In fact, with nearly 1 in 5 (18.7%) of its citizens without health insurance, only five states rank worse: Montana, Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

Notorious California Traffic

It's Getting Worse

"The worst traffic in the U.S. is getting even worse," says Forbes magazine in February of 2006. "California has a decided edge in winning the award for the worst traffic, since five of its cities (or city regions) make the top 12 list."

San Jose, LA, SF, Oakland Have Worst Roads in Nation

California's notorious roads: San Jose has the worst roads in the nation according to a study released earlier this year. It is followed in order by Los Angeles is in second place followed by San Francisco and Oakland. With San Diego and Sacramento making the top ten, California had six cities in the top ten cities.

CA Cities Have Worst Traffic Jams

A new report by Texas A&M University shows Los Angeles commuter spent an average of 93 hours snarled in traffic in 2002 -- the most of any city in the survey.
That same year, Bay Area drivers lost 73 hours to rush-hour slowdowns. The Washington, DC area ranked third, with drivers spending 67 hours stuck in traffic.

Longest Delays

Southern California has the dubious distinction of having the worst traffic jams in the country, increasingly poor air quality and housing affordability levels well below the national average, according to a study released Thursday by a regional planning agency.

Traffic Jeopardizes Health

California's notorious traffic has several negative impacts, including jeopardizing our children's health according to a 2005 California EPA study.

Poverty in California

Child Poverty in LA

Reversing a longtime downward trend, child poverty is on the rise across Los Angeles County as housing costs spiral out of reach for working-class families, according to a report to be released today.
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The cost of living has spiked more than 40% since 1999, as the county's median wage inched up to $15.28 last year.

Extreme Poverty

Countywide, the percentage of children living in "extreme poverty" increased 16 percent from 2002 to 2004, according to the study by the Children's Planning Council, which collects comprehensive data on child and family well-being.

Educational Resources

Class Size is Key

"If citizens are truly committed to providing a quality public education and a level playing field for all students regardless of background, they will find the funds needed to reduce class size." This is the concluding remark in the Bruce Biddle and David Berliner class size paper, "Small Class Size and Its Effects,"

Roadblocks to College

"The roadblocks to college have a common root cause: our state's failure to invest the necessary resources in education," concludes a 2006 UCLA study examining California's failure to adequately prepare students for college. The study, which notes California ranks 43rd in spending per student adds, "the shortage of teachers, counselors and college preparatory courses is a direct reflection of too few dollars going into the state's education system."

Not Enough To Go Around

"In California education, the broad climate is framed by a climate of scarcity - when there just aren't enough resources to go around," says John Rogers, associate director of UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access. "That creates a context in which well-meaning educators have to engage in these triage responses, which directly contradict state and federal policies, which are calling for more attention to students who have greater needs."

Class Size Threatens Quality

In this "square mile" town of about 16,000, Albany High School is packed. One of the most sought after schools in the county, some students, teachers and school officials fear the lure -- a quality public school education -- could suffer from the increased number of students.

With 1,220 students, it is 220 more than the school was designed for, said Albany School Board President Charles Blanchard. This is the second year in a row enrollment has exceeded capacity.

A Shortage of Teachers

Patrick Shields, Center for Education Policy: "We're going to lose, through natural retirement, 100,000 teachers who are going to have to be replaced."

Inside the Capitol, education researchers sounded the alarm to lawmakers about the impending teacher shortage. Schools are likely to feel it in as little as five years.

Fewer College Graduates Pursuing Certification

Fewer Californians are enrolling in college programs to prepare themselves for school-teaching careers, which means fewer qualified teachers will be available statewide if the trend persists, experts said.

According to the latest report card from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, enrollment in teacher-education programs at public and private universities throughout the state was down for the second consecutive year in 2003-04.

Many Teachers to Retire, Replacements Few

"About a third of California's teachers are expected to retire within the next decade, leaving a shortage of 100,000 teachers just as California's colleges see a drop in the number of students entering teacher-training programs, according to a report released Wednesday," reports the AP on the study by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning.