California Policy Lab May 2020 Newsletter

Analysis of CA Unemployment Insurance claims

CPL is analyzing initial Unemployment Insurance claims to provide a detailed analysis on how California’s industries, regions, counties, and types of workers are being impacted. Two versions of this analysis have already been released on April 29th and May 7th, and a third analysis will be released next week. This research is made possible through CPL’s partnership with the Labor Market Information Division of the California Employment Development Department. Click here for interactive maps, figures, and two analyses

Impact on hourly workers at small and medium-sized businesses throughout the U.S.

By analyzing daily timecard data for nearly 40,000 small businesses in the United States, researchers from CPL, IRLE, the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation at Chicago Booth, and the University of Chicago Poverty Lab are tracking changes in hours worked before and after the COVID-19 crisis began. They have posted frequent updates to measure how the impact is spreading across the country, geographically and by industry, and how it evolves in response to state and local social distancing guidelines and orders. Read the latest analysis

Evaluation of homelessness prevention in L.A.

CPL completed an evaluation of Los Angeles Homelessness Prevention Strategies A1 (focused on families) and A5 (focused on single adults and transition-aged youth) in December 2019 and a shorter version of that evaluation summarizing our findings is now available. Three out of four people who got help under these strategies received financial assistance and, although CPL could not establish a causal relationship, people who received financial support had lower rates of returning to homelessness (5.3%) as compared to those who did not receive financial support (19.9%). Read the policy brief.

Responding to COVID-19

CPL has been working with our state and local partners on several projects related to understanding and mitigating the impact of the pandemic. CPL is seeking funding partners for this work.

In addition to our labor research, we’re also working on:

Stimulus payments: Our research on the Earned Income Tax Credit was part of the national policy conversation about how to best get stimulus payments to Americans who aren’t required to file taxes. CPL is now analyzing how many Californians may potentially miss out on these payments.

At-risk populations: Working with several counties, CPL is helping inform their strategies to identify and help people at the highest risk of COVID-19.

Household finances: Using data from the new University of California Consumer Credit Panel, CPL will monitor how household financial pictures change in California in response to the pandemic and how well government responses are working.

Welcome new CPL staff!

CPL is excited to welcome two new members to our team. At the UCLA office, Rob Santillano joined as the new Research Director. Anna Doherty recently joined as a Research Manager at our UC Berkeley office.

Career opportunities at the California Policy Lab

CPL’s UCLA Office

• Data Analyst focused on labor
• Post-doctoral scholar focused on homelessness and housing

Updates on CPL Affiliated Faculty Experts

Hilary Hoynes (UC Berkeley) recently co-authored this analysis: Why the Safety Net Might Not Respond as Effectively to COVID-19 As It Should

Till von Wachter (faculty director at UCLA) was recently interviewed on PBS NewsHour about his research on college graduates entering the labor market during a recession.

Jesse Rothstein (faculty director at UC Berkeley) was interviewed on CBS This Morning about the need to improve how unemployment programs are administered.

Ken Jacobs and Michael Reich (UC Berkeley) released a new analysis estimating that Uber and Lyft would have paid $413 million into California’s Unemployment Insurance system if they had treated their drivers as employees.

Millions of low-income Americans are at risk of missing out on stimulus payments

This article cites CPL’s earlier research project focused on using “nudges” to increase the take-up of the EITC in California.

New Research Provides Timely Snapshot Of Virus’s Effect On Workers

This article cites the research project focused on hourly workers at small and medium sized businesses.

With record unemployment filings, federal stimulus will help, but more is needed: Q & A with Till von Wachter

In this interview Till von Wachter speaks about how programs like Short Term Compensation (also known as work sharing) can help employers to retain employees as an alternative to layoffs.

3.8 million Americans sought jobless benefits last week, extending pandemic’s grip on the national workforce

This article cites findings from CPL’s first analysis of Unemployment Insurance claims, which found that 36.7% of California workers with a high school degree or less had filed for unemployment as of April 11th. In CPL’s most recent analysis, that share had grown to 45%.

Nearly 20 Percent Of The U.S. Labor Force Has Filed For Unemployment Since Mid-March

This article cites findings from CPL’s first analysis of Unemployment Insurance claims, including that 90% of claimants reported they expected to be recalled to their former employers. That number fell in CPL’s most recent analysis to 80%.

Laid-Off Workers Show Confidence They’ll Be Rehired

This article cites findings from CPL’s first analysis of Unemployment Insurance claims about the increase in the share of claimants who reported they expected to be recalled.