This volume examines issues that focus on the state's lowest-paid workers, yet have implications for all Californians. Among them are the hidden costs to the state's taxpayers of the unrestrained growth of low-wage jobs that offer few or no fringe benefits, survey findings regarding California's new paid family leave law, and the transformation of low-wage jobs through unionization and political action into positions that provide a living wage.

Preface and Acknowledgements
Ruth Milkman

Part I Economic Inequality and Public Policy

The Hidden Public Costs of Low-Wage Jobs in California
Carol Zabin, Arindrajit Dube, and Ken Jacobs

Paid Family Leave in California: New Research Findings
Ruth Milkman and Eileen Appelbaum

Part II Unionization, Wages, and Job Quality

Upgrading California's Home Care Workforce:
The Impact of Political Action and Unionization
Candace Howes

Immigration, Union Density, and Brown-Collar Wage Penalties
Lisa Catanzarite

Part III Unions and Collective Bargaining Trends in California

Recent Developments in California Labor Relations
Daniel J. B. Mitchell

About the Contributors

The State of California Labor is produced by the UC Institutes of Industrial Relations at UCLA and UC Berkeley. Subscriptions and single issues of the print edition can be ordered from the publisher, University of California Press. The contents of earlier volumes are also available in PDF:

• The State of California Labor 2003
• The State of California Labor 2002
• The State of California Labor 2001