In today’s economic landscape, the question isn’t whether someone has a job or not – it’s whether they have a job that can support them.
That’s one conclusion from a new paper on poverty and California’s workers presented by the Public Policy Institute of California. It found that nearly 10% of California’s workers ages 25-64 are living in poverty – that’s about 1.5 million people. Even more disturbing: A full half of them are working full time. Combine that with the nearly 40% of adults in poverty who are working part time, and the conclusion is startling: A significant number of California adults living in poverty have jobs.
Low-income workers don’t need to “get a job,” they need access to better jobs.
“Stranded Workers” Have Talent The Economy Needs
Poverty is particularly concentrated in some industries. As of 2023, the latest year the PPIC study covered, poverty rates were highest among workers in agriculture, leisure and hospitality, the service industry, and construction. In some of these industries, nearly 20% or workers are living in poverty. In fishing, farming, forestry, and ground maintenance, the rate is nearly 25%.
Low paying jobs can also present other challenges – like inflexible hours and difficult commutes. These problems stack up for workers, worsening their economic, health, and overall well-being.
“In regions with higher poverty rates among working adults,” the report noted, “poverty was also higher among adults employed full time—indicating that there are multiple challenges to making ends meet, including low wages, expenses such as child care, access to safety net resources, and the cost of living.”
Low income workers are doing what they can. They’re holding down a job, maybe more than one, and working hard. They are often talented, capable, and intelligent – but technology and the economy have changed around them, and it’s difficult to get the skills they need to change careers when they’re already living in poverty.
And they’re not alone: California has an estimated 6 million “stranded” workers who are talented but underemployed, capable but lacking the credentials to change careers and improve their economic mobility. The organization Opportunity@Work calls this “The Paper Ceiling.”
To make the economy fair, we need to support low-wage workers – but also, to make the economy prosperous. Many fields with good paying jobs are facing a shortage of key workers. They need new employees to grow. According to an author of one recent report, “the U.S. is in dire need of qualified workers to keep our infrastructure intact, our communities safe, and our industries at the forefront of innovation.”
Helping stranded workers helps the entire economy.
Fortunately, California has an innovative solution.
Career Change Happens With Access To Education
Seven years ago, the state of California created Calbright College, an online community college specifically designed to help stranded workers change careers and access better jobs. Since then, Calbright has developed new job skills programs, education systems, and modern approaches to adult workforce education to make upskilling accessible specifically to stranded workers.
Calbright eliminates the barriers to education and job skills training that many working adults face, including:
- Costs: Calbright’s programs are currently free for all Californians
- Location: Calbright’s programs are all online, and can be taken anywhere – Calbright has students in 57 of California’s 58 counties. Students without online access can even receive a loaned laptop and wifi hotspot, again for free.
- Time: Calbright’s programs are flexibly paced, and can be taken on a student’s schedule, whether that’s first thing in the morning, last thing at night, or on 15-minute breaks during the day. Because Calbright uses a Competency-Based Education model, students can move through their studies as quickly or as slowly as they need to. Their education will fit their life.
This doesn’t just make Calbright accessible for working adults – it makes Calbright accessible to parents, caregivers, and people with other significant responsibilities.
Calbright is also career relevant: Instead of traditional degrees it offers certificates that are matched to industry-valued standards in areas that companies are hiring for, like IT Support, Cybersecurity, Human Resources, Project Management, and Data Analysis. These certificates can be earned much faster than a traditional degree, with some students earning certificates in just months.
Calbright’s Career Services programs also help students make their career transitions, helping them shape their resumes and LinkedIn profiles to get noticed by hiring managers, providing networking opportunities, and even paid internships and apprenticeships so that some students can get paid to learn on the job.
It’s made career transitions possible for adults at many different stages in their careers, as different as Richard, Emmalyn, Cintia, and Ahmed, all of whom now have new jobs working with new technologies.
It is possible to help stranded workers, and move towards an economy where people who work full time are making a living wage and thriving. Calbright, and California, are proving it.
