Young people are stuck earning low wages, working long hours — often while going to school — and often without benefits or work protections.
Sign up for a weekly digest of reporting and analysis on one of the Golden State’s most pressing issues: inequality.Alexis Reyna, 20, works at Chalio Mexican Restaurant in East Los Angeles on May 26, 2021. Photo by Lucy Nicholson, Reuters Their hardships may hamper the state’s economy for years to come, researchers said.
About 64% of California’s young workers earned low wages — defined as about $18 an hour, two-thirds of the median wage — and 60% reported difficulty affording their expenses, researchers wrote. Young workers reflect California’s growing diversity. About 3 in 4 are people of color and more than half are Latino. About 15% of high school-aged young people worked full time and half of young people ages 19 to 24 worked full time. In the service industry, 40% of young workers are employed in bars, restaurants and retail.
While many young people are stuck in lower-wage jobs, the research suggests they are contributing significantly to their household income. And about 12% of young workers are heads of households, according to the report. From 2018 to 2020, the share of California high school graduates enrolled in postsecondary education within 12 months fell from 65% to 63%, according to the study.
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