1st appeared 8 September 1998

Rapid Change Becoming the Norm in California's Labor Market

The results of a new in-depth survey of California's adult population indicate that the labor market in the state is as strong as it has been for years but that the nature of employment is changing. Led by UCSF researchers, the survey found that unemployment rates are low and the proportion of the working age population currently employed is high. However, of the working Californians reporting difficulty in living on their current income, about ten percent reside in households with incomes below 125 percent of the Federal poverty level.

Many Californians are working long hours, frequently have multiple jobs, and a majority live in households with two or more adult workers. More than a third of California's workers report having received a promotion within a job or a job change that represents an improvement in pay or status within the last year.

The California Work and Health Survey (CWHS) was led by Edward Yelin and Laura Trupin of the Institute for Health Policy Studies and Department of Medicine at UCSF. The CWHS project is funded by the Work and Health Initiative of the California Wellness Foundation. The 1998 survey -- the first for CWHS -- was administered between June 10 and July 21, 1998 to 1,771 adults (age 18 or older) living in California.

The results also suggest that the nature of employment in California has been altered in fundamental ways. Jobs are increasingly held for shorter periods, with almost half of California's workers having been with their current employer for two years or less. Rates of job displacement remain high even though unemployment rates are low, with one in six adults in the labor force reporting having lost a job or having left one because they expected to lose it within the past three years.

Meanwhile, the state's economy demands that workers bring a high level of skill to the labor market, and California's workers are meeting that demand. A majority of California workers reports receiving job skill training at work or school within the past five years and an even greater proportion currently uses personal computers at home or on the job.

The study also found that the California workforce is strikingly diverse and youthful. More than forty percent of employed Californians are from racial and ethnic minorities and a quarter were born outside of the US. Almost half of the state's workforce is younger than 35 years of age and all but a quarter is younger than 45.

The strength of the labor market in California notwithstanding, several groups of Californians continue to have relatively low rates of employment. They include persons who have not finished college; those who are 45 years of age or older; and those in poor health due to the presence of chronic conditions, disabilities, or symptoms of depression. In addition, residents of Los Angeles County, the Central Valley, and the Inland Empire also have lower relative employment rates than residents of the Bay Area, Orange County, and San Diego County.

About one in five Californians reports household incomes less than 125 percent of the Federal poverty level; about one in six Californians reports that it is difficult, very difficult, or extremely difficult to live on their current household income; and almost as many state that they are somewhat or very likely to experience actual hardships in the next two months, such as inadequate housing, food, or medical care.

Following are some of the findings of the study:

• About a third of the employed population is currently working 45 hours or more per week and more than 40 percent report that their jobs require them to work very fast without breaks. Ten percent of workers hold two or more jobs. A majority (52 percent) of working households have more than one adult wage-earner.

• About a quarter of California's workers reported receiving a promotion at their current job and another 12 percent reported a change in job that represented an improvement in pay or status.

• Sixty percent of the employed population in the state report having the flexibility to change the time they usually begin and end work. Almost 90 percent state that their job requires them to learn new skills. Over 80 percent indicate that their job allows them to make a lot of decisions on their own.

• The necessity of computer literacy is becoming a given among Californians. More than eight in ten California workers now report using a personal computer either at home, at work or at school, and two-thirds own a PC at home. Job skills training and retraining is also widespread, with nearly half of all adults and a majority of workers having attended classes at school or at their work place to improve their job-related skills and abilities in the past five years.

• In this vibrant economy, older adults are much less likely to work. Whereas 70 percent of adults between 35 and 54 years of age are working, only about four in ten between the ages of 55 and 64 state that they were employed either full or part-time last week.

• Whether as cause or consequence, Californians in poor health are less likely to be actively engaged in work. About 65 percent of California's adults reporting excellent or very good health status are currently employed. In contrast, less than a third of those in fair or poor health are.

source: Institute for Health Policy Studies

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