California Policy Lab May 2021 Newsletter

10 key trends from California’s unemployment crisis

This new snapshot synthesizes research from CPL’s 16 reports released during the unemployment crisis in California, and includes seven recommendations for policymakers as they consider reforming the nation’s Unemployment Insurance system.

2.2 million Californians could miss out on $5.7 billion in stimulus

CPL’s new analysis finds that 25% of Californians enrolled in safety-net programs did not receive their stimulus payments automatically and are at risk of not receiving them at all. Because the IRS did not re-open its Non-Filer tool, these Californians will likely need to file taxes (something they wouldn’t normally have to do) to receive their payments. The report was covered by CNN, NYT, LAT, and CalMatters.

CalExodus: Fact or fiction?

Contrary to concerns about a “mass exodus,” CPL’s analysis found that most moves in 2020 happened within California, not out of California. Even in San Francisco, which saw a dramatic increase in net exits, 80% of movers remained in California. This was the first report released using CPL’s new UC-CCP dataset of credit bureau data. The findings were covered extensively, including most recently by the Washington Post.

Extended unemployment benefits “turned off” early in 33 states

A new CPL analysis finds that extended unemployment benefits have been prematurely “turned off” in 33 states and territories due to an incomplete way of measuring unemployment that does not include long-term unemployed workers. While California is still providing extended benefits, they are expected to “turn off” later this year. The research was covered by the NYT, Bloomberg, Fox Business, and Business Insider.

Unsheltered homelessness in L.A.

Using data collected by Street Outreach services in Los Angeles, CPL provided a rapid response analysis to the Commission of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). CPL found that twenty percent of Street Outreach clients had a clinical diagnosis of serious mental illness within the previous twelve years.

Tracking the health of small businesses and their workers

A new project uses data from Homebase (a scheduling software for hourly workers) to track the health of the small business sector and its employees. This project is a collaboration between Homebase and researchers from CPL, the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation at the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois, and the UChicago Inclusive Economy Lab.

New one million dollar grant to measure take-up of safety net programs at community colleges

The Spencer Foundation recently awarded a grant to CPL to conduct a comprehensive analysis of safety net usage among students at California’s community college. Based on this research, CPL will work with our partners to design and test an intervention to increase student take-up of safety net programs.

Welcome to CPL’s 2021 Summer Instituters!

Ten students and recent graduates from UC campuses across the state were selected to participate in CPL’s Summer Institute, where they will work on data-focused policy research projects. Vikram Jambulapati, pictured below their collage, is a PhD student at UCSD, and will be the Summer Institute instructor.

May 26th: Housing Policy Conference

Natalie Holmes, a Research Fellow at CPL, and the author of the CalExodus policy brief, will speak about that research during the “Pandemic Effect” panel.

Unsheltered in Los Angeles: Understanding Homelessness & Potential Solutions

Janey Rountree and Dr. Adams Kellum, President and CEO of St. Joseph Center, had a wide-ranging conversation with Craig Turk, a writer and executive TV producer, focused on better understanding homelessness in Los Angeles and evidence-based strategies to address it.

Rethinking unemployment insurance and housing support: Policies to protect workers and families

During this Hamilton Project webcast, Till von Wachter was part of a panel that focused on the COVID-19 labor crisis and policy options to reform the unemployment insurance system.

The Future of Work: The Big Picture

Evan White spoke on this panel along with Rob Lapsley (California Business Roundtable), Lenny Mendonca (McKinsey & Co.) and Caitlin Vega (Union Made Strategies) to discuss CPL’s recent policy brief focused on the CalExodus, and what CPL’s analysis means for taxes, state revenues, housing affordability, and more. Erika Smith from the LAT moderated.

On Common Ground: Economic Recovery in California

Till von Wachter joined this panel with Angela Glover Blackwell (PolicyLink) and Julian Canete (California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce) to discuss the economic recovery in California with Rachael Myrow from KQED. The conversation focused on how policymakers can ensure a more equitable recovery.

Job openings on CPL’s UCLA Team

CPL recognizes the value of having a diverse staff at all levels of the organization. We are looking for equity-minded applicants who represent and understand the diverse racial and ethnic, gender identity, sexual orientation, educational, socioeconomic, cultural, and disability backgrounds present in California.

1. Data Analyst

2. Graduate Student Researcher

3. Fund Development Manager

Applications due soon: CPL’s Seed Grants (June 30th) and Graduate Fellowships (July 15th)

CPL just awarded its first round of Seed Grants and Graduate Fellowship Grants to support policy-relevant research topics. Applications for the next round of Seed Grants are due June 30th, and Graduate Fellowship Grants are due July 15th.

Unemployment benefits cut short for more than 300,000 during pandemic, study says

CPL’s research highlighting how an overly narrow measure of who is receiving unemployment (which doesn’t include workers on extended programs) is the focus on this article. The research was also covered by the NYT, Bloomberg, Fox Business, and Business Insider.

The IRS has no plans to bring back a tool that helped low-income Americans get their stimulus checks. Here’s what to do instead

CPL’s research uncovered that over two million Californians were at risk of not receiving their stimulus payments is cited. This research was also covered by the LAT, NYT, CalMatters, Sacramento Bee, KQED, and more.

County supervisors take steps to remove barriers to aid

San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson cited CPL’s research on churn in the CalFresh program as the board approved a new proposal to make safety net programs more accessible for San Diego County residents. This research was also covered by KPBS, Capitol Public Radio, KCRW, and the Imprint.

Californians aren’t leaving the state en masse — but they are leaving San Francisco, study says

CPL’s research found that the so-called “Mass Exodus” from California did not happen in 2020, though there was a spike in exits from San Francisco, and fewer people moved into California during 2020 as compared to past years. The findings were covered extensively, including by the Nation, AP, the Hill, Newsweek, San Francisco Chronicle, Fortune, and more.