Overview

• A new report by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office highlights the challenges low-wage workers face in affording housing despite California's $16 hourly minimum wage.
• The majority of low-wage workers are home health and personal care aides, with fast food workers making up the second largest group. This may change with the industry's upcoming $20-an-hour minimum wage.
• Nearly 60% of low-wage workers are Latino, and about half of these are immigrants. Most live with at least one other worker and have no young children.
• California's major metropolitan areas and much of its Central Coast are unaffordable for minimum wage workers, with some rural and mid-size metro areas being exceptions.
• The report suggests the Legislature consider setting different minimum wages in different regions or helping local governments coordinate their minimum wage policies.