PPIC’s newest survey examines Californians’ perceptions of their funds. Along with asking about financial insecurity and job satisfaction, the survey additionally measured help for unions and insurance policies geared toward selling financial well-being. Throughout a digital occasion final week, PPIC researchers Dean Bonner and Deja Thomas mentioned key findings and takeaways.
Bonner famous that the well-being survey, now in its fourth 12 months, is particular as a result of it oversamples Californians incomes lower than $40,000: “That enables us to measure it in a manner that we wouldn’t in any other case. Take a look at this subgroup alone. With the ability to do different issues,” he stated.
The survey discovered that almost two-thirds of Californians anticipate poor financial situations within the subsequent 12 months. “That’s a broad view,” Bonner stated, “besides for 2 teams — Democrats and African Individuals; each have slim majorities trying ahead to higher instances.”
A document 71% of Californians consider in the present day’s youngsters might be worse off financially than their mother and father. That is up 8 share factors since 2021 and is properly above 5 years in the past, when simply 50% held this view.
Why are extra Californians pessimistic concerning the future? “That share has been rising since PPIC first raised the problem in December 2014,” Thomas stated. She linked this rising pessimism to plenty of different survey findings. For instance, about 3 in 10 Californians say they or somebody of their family has needed to eat much less meals or have needed to postpone physician’s appointments, and one other 2 in 10 are struggling to pay their hire or mortgage. Encounter difficulties.
“On prime of that,” Thomas added, “roughly 2 in 10 or extra Californians are apprehensive about housing prices, well being care prices, paying payments and with the ability to save for retirement.” She stated on condition that these considerations have been Over the course of some years, “I feel a whole lot of it might pile up.”
Maybe not surprisingly, these difficulties are most prevalent amongst low-income Californians: These making lower than $40,000 a 12 months are most definitely to have skilled monetary insecurity previously 12 months and are particularly more likely to fear about paying charges and saving cash.
Whereas there may be widespread pessimism concerning the broader financial outlook, most Californians take a extra constructive view of their private funds. Majorities throughout get together traces, areas and demographic teams stated they had been no less than considerably glad with their family funds, with a majority saying their funds had been about the identical as a 12 months in the past. Nonetheless, solely 16% stated their monetary state of affairs had improved, whereas three in 10 stated they had been worse off.
There may be stable help for unions and insurance policies geared toward selling financial well-being. Seven in 10 Californians (together with majorities throughout get together traces) favor unions, and 85% consider it’s necessary for employees to prepare so employers don’t reap the benefits of them. Californians are notably supportive of accelerating funding for job coaching, and overwhelmingly favor rising baby care funding for low-income working mother and father. The survey requested about points resembling hire management and minimal wage will increase, that are more likely to seem on the 2024 poll. “We discovered stable majority help on each points, but in addition broad partisan variations,” Bonner stated.