The Labor Center conducts a wide range of research on low-wage work in California and nationally. Our research focuses on documenting and understanding working conditions in low-wage industries, especially for women, immigrants, and workers of color. We also analyze policies to raise labor standards at the local, state, and national levels.
For an in-depth description of California’s low-wage workforce, see our Data Explorer.
View our Inventory of US City and County Minimum Wage Ordinances and our new Inventory of Sectoral Wage Ordinances.
New! Know Your Rights at Work: Information for New Workers in California. This handout is given to all CA high school students applying for work permits explaining their rights on the job, as mandated by AB 800. Useful for all new workers — and long-time workers, too.
You can also visit our Black Worker project.
Minimum wage, living wage, and other labor standards studies.
Research on the societal and fiscal costs of low-wage work.
In-depth studies of labor markets and working conditions in low-wage industries.
Independent contracting, gig work, and employee misclassification
May 20, 2024
Gig Passenger and Delivery Driver Pay in Five Metro Areas
June 2, 2024
Want to make less than minimum wage? Drive for a California rideshare company
February 20, 2024
California health care minimum wage: New estimates for impacts on workers, patients, and the state budget
December 14, 2023
Civil Service Vacancies in California: 2022–2023
April 11, 2023
Proposed health care minimum wage increase: What it would mean for workers, patients, and industry
Our Low-Wage Work in California Data Explorer offers disaggregated data by regional subgroup for AAPI workers, showing important differences across occupation, gender, and nativity status within this diverse group.
Our report assesses the impact of AB 1228 by estimating how eligibility for Medi-Cal might change for workers covered under this law. From this, we also estimate potential reductions in federal and state Medi-Cal spending.
A proposed ordinance in the Chicago City Council would set minimum standards for transportation network driver compensation. In this brief we analyze drivers’ earnings in Chicago under current law, and what drivers would earn under the proposed policy.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential impacts of consolidating collective bargaining for California’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) providers from the county level to the state or regional level.
Across the country, cities and counties have become laboratories of policy innovation on labor standards. Before 2012, only five localities had minimum wage laws; currently, 65 counties and cities do. To help inform policymakers and other stakeholders, the UC Berkeley Labor Center is maintaining an up-to-date inventory of these laws, with details on wage levels, scheduled increases, and other law details, as well as links to the ordinances.
A first-of-its-kind analysis of the wages of app-based passenger and delivery drivers in Chicago reveals that gig drivers struggle to make ends meet, earning less than the city’s minimum wage.
“Even though minimum wages have gone up in many states and localities, they’re still not paying a living wage. What is a living wage? A living wage is a wage that allows workers to be self-sufficient and provide for their families,” Enrique Lopezlira said.
Temporary workers earn 18% less than non-temporary workers and are twice as likely to live in poverty and rely on social safety nets, according to Miranda Dietz, a researcher at the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, Berkeley.
“There are a lot of misconceptions about who low-wage workers are. Most low-wage workers, including fast-food workers, are adults and are the main providers in their families,” said Enrique Lopezlira.
Home care workers who provide assistance to elderly and disabled Californians could see more wage equality, according to a recent labor report, by shifting contract negotiations to the state level instead of bargaining individually with California’s 56 individual counties.
Enrique Lopezlira
Director, Low-Wage Work Program
Ken Jacobs
Senior Policy Advisor
Savannah Hunter
Senior Researcher
