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IRLE Year at a Glance 2021/2022 ANNUAL REPORT

The events of recent years have brought real changes to the landscape of work and employment. Many individuals are questioning their relationship to their jobs, and re-imagining how the workplace of the future should function. Further, there is a renewed interest in the labor movement, labor policies, and labor practices among employers, policymakers, and even students as they prepare to enter into the workforce. Underlying these shifts is a growing realization that the way that labor is structured in this country can at times be incompatible with the well-being of workers, communities, and the environment.

For many decades, IRLE’s labor research and education programs have highlighted the need for policies and practices that support and recognize the vital role of labor and workers in our society. Our long track record of reliably providing California policymakers and stakeholders with high-quality, policy-relevant research has positioned us well to meet the challenges of the moment.

Learn more about our work in finding solutions to the most urgent social and economic issues facing working families in California and training the next generation of labor scholars and leaders.

Student Programs

As interest in pressing labor and social issues continues to grow, IRLE and our centers have expanded paid research and experiential learning opportunities for UC undergraduate and graduate students.

Student Research Funding By the Numbers

Research Mentorship

Social Sciences Research Pathways (SSRP) is IRLE's yearlong research development program that connects undergraduate students with graduate student mentors pursuing masters or doctoral-level research. In response to overwhelming demand, the program more than tripled in its second year, matching 60 undergraduate mentees with 32 graduate student-led research projects. SSRP provides a paid first research opportunity for undergraduate graduates, as well as training and guidance from graduate student mentors. Mentors gain experience leading a research team and the conscientious support of undergraduate mentees for their research projects.

The program aims to attract students from all backgrounds, and provide meaningful, hands-on social sciences research experience.

Having mentees really forced me to put together a plan for my dissertation, and make real advances in my own work. I also learned how to explain my work and teach research skills to a small team.

— SSRP undergraduate mentor

I love my research team and it has really helped me adjust to the research world and Berkeley. Having a grad student I feel comfortable talking with is so helpful.

— SSRP undergraduate mentee

Photo: Sociology grad student Emily Ruppel and her undergraduate mentees Zoe Anderson and Alexandra Ward presented their research at a conference in Sacramento.

IRLE funding continued last year for a range of faculty-led research cohorts, providing paid opportunities for 24 Berkeley undergraduates to conduct research under the supervision of campus faculty. The funded cohorts delved into topics including the university experiences of undocumented students; employment barriers faced by formerly incarcerated Californians; the ways Latinxs interact with the environment; and the higher education trajectories of former foster youth.

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STUDENT RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

Berkeley Hope Scholars Research Cohort

Hope Scholars is a UC Berkeley support initiative for former foster youth. Under the mentorship of the School of Social Welfare's Jill Duerr Berrick, this team of undergraduate Hope Scholars conducts research related to uncovering the protective factors in foster care that promote positive young adult outcomes.

Experiential Learning Programs

Two of our centers, the Labor Center and California Policy Lab, offer students paid experiential learning opportunities. Last year, 30 paid Labor Summer interns gained hands-on research and organizing experience supporting 17 labor and community organizations. The cohort of talented UC undergraduates who participated in California Policy Lab's Undergraduate Summer Institute developed new data analysis skills and worked alongside CPL staff on research projects including college student access to CalFresh, homelessness in California, and household debt and credit use.

CPL’s Summer Institute is a unique experience for undergraduates to get to work with big data and on research that can have large policy implications. It was my first time getting access to large-scale data and learning how to clean and analyze it in practice. The one-on-one and group mentorship you receive as part of the program are invaluable.

— 2022 California Policy Lab Summer Institute participant

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING SPOTLIGHT

Solidarity Spring

Over spring break the Labor Center piloted Solidarity Spring, a new program aimed at introducing students to labor issues through art, culture, skills development, and action. The inaugural cohort of 19 students participated in solidarity actions supporting Teamster UPS workers and San Francisco city workers.

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Labor Studies

I think the best part of this class is working with community partners and getting to research and present on real world topics. I think the public policy school can benefit from doing more policy lab activities like these that have real world impacts, especially in the undergraduate departments. It is very important in public policy to get out of the classroom and work with real organizers and policymakers to start to see the reality of the process and where we can assist.

— Spring 2022 Labor Studies student

The Labor Center's popular labor studies classes, taught by Anibel Ferus-Comelo, provide students with opportunities to understand the role of the US labor movement in the fight for social, economic, and racial justice. Last year, the 116 students enrolled in “Work, Justice and the Labor Movement” and “Collaborative Innovation: The Future of Work for People and the Planet” received hands-on research and service-learning experience with over 20 community and labor partners.

In April, Dr. Ferus-Comelo received the Chancellor's Award for Community-Engaged Teaching.

Visiting Scholars Program

“During my time at the IRLE, I was exposed to cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research on labor issues both in California and beyond. IRLE’s thematic vibrancy is matched by the institute’s commitment to enacting change and improving the lives of California workers irrespective of age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and/or (lack of) legal status.”

– Johanna Schenner, 2020-21 IRLE visiting scholar

IRLE is a hub for emerging and established labor scholars around the world. Our Visiting Scholars Program lends a global frame and perspective to our work, and visitors are encouraged to share their research in our weekly Visiting Scholars Seminar Series. Last year, we welcomed 17 visiting scholars from seven countries.

Faculty and Research Support

IRLE helps to extend the work of faculty engaged in timely labor- and employment-related scholarship with funding, grant management, and communications support.

Faculty Research Awardees

Through our faculty research award program, last year we provided vital support to 12 research projects totaling over $257,544.75.

  • Abhay Aneja (Law) & Guo Xu (Business), The Impact of Government Discrimination on Long-Run Racial Differences in Wealth and Mobility
  • Irene Bloemraad (Sociology), Interdisciplinary Immigration Workshop
  • Tolani Britton (Education), An Exploration of the Relationship Between Virtual Academic Advising and Student Outcomes
  • Neil Fligstein (Sociology), Occupational Polarization and Mobility Patterns from 1968 to Present
  • Benjamin Handel (Economics), The Impact of Medical Provider Fatigue on Performance and Outcomes
  • David Harding (Sociology), Criminal Records, Narratives, and Destigmatization
  • Heather Haveman (Sociology & Business), Obstacles to Gender Equality at Work
  • Danya Lagos (Sociology), Employment Trajectories of Transgender Workers
  • Elizabeth Linos (Public Policy), Increasing Civilian Engagement with Police Accountability Processes
  • Christopher Muller (Sociology), Agricultural Mechanization and Mass Incarceration
  • Christian Paiz (Ethnic Studies), Transcription of UFW Movement Oral Histories
  • Trond Peterson (Business & Sociology), The Motherhood Problem

Our Centers

IRLE is home to several nationally-recognized centers that conduct research, education, and outreach on pressing labor and employment issues.

The Labor Center conducts research and education on issues related to labor and employment. The Labor Center’s curricula and leadership trainings serve to educate a diverse new generation of labor leaders. Labor Center researchers work with unions, government, and employers to develop innovative policy research and programs. The Center provides an important source of research and data on labor trends and issues for students, scholars, policymakers and the public.

California Policy Lab (CPL) seeks to improve the lives of Californians by generating evidence that transforms public policy. CPL does this by forming lasting partnerships between government and California’s flagship public universities to harness the power of research and administrative data. CPL research focuses on six policy areas: education, criminal justice reform, poverty and the social safety net, labor and employment, health, and homelessness and high needs populations.

Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) is the national leader in early care and education workforce research and policy since 1999. CSCCE provides research and analysis on the preparation, working conditions, and compensation of the early care and education workforce. CSCCE researchers develop policy solutions and create spaces for teaching, learning, and educator activism. The Center's vision is an effective public early care and education system that secures racial, gender, and economic justice for the women whose labor is the linchpin of stable, quality services.

Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics (CWED) engages in cutting-edge academic and policy research on important economic issues including minimum wage and the gig economy.

California Public Employee Relations (CPER) provides the California public sector with resources to navigate workplace rights.

Research Highlights

Low-Wage Work

Researchers across our centers continue to examine the high costs of low-wage work across industries and the significant benefits of higher minimum wages and other protections for low-wage workers. IRLE research is helping to shape minimum wage policy proposals in California and nationwide.

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Photo by Joe Piette

LABOR CENTER RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the US Construction Industry

Ken Jacobs, Jenifer MacGillvary, Enrique Lopezlira, and Kuochih Huang

Construction in the United States was historically known as an industry where workers without a college education could find family-supporting jobs. Now, job quality for some construction workers has deteriorated to the point that they earn wages too low to make ends meet and therefore fall back on the public safety net to make up the difference.

This widely cited Labor Center report looks at the use by construction workers and their families in the United States of five means-tested safety net programs. The report finds that 39% of families of construction workers are enrolled in one or more safety net program at a cost of almost $28 billion per year. In comparison, 31% of all workers have a family member enrolled in a safety net program. Three times as many construction workers as all workers lack health insurance (31% compared to 10%).

Read the Report

The Ongoing Child Care Crisis

CSCCE offers critical resources for those who are serious about designing policies to support the early childhood workforce.

— Jacqueline Jones, former President/CEO, The Foundation for Child Development

The already struggling U.S. early care and education system was pushed to the brink of collapse by the pandemic. Researchers at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) have been tracking jobs numbers in the sector and are at the forefront of state and national child care reform policy conversations. CSCCE's New Data Shows Early Educators Equipped to Teach TK report demonstrated that California has a diverse, qualified, and experienced population of early educators who are well positioned to fill its new transitional kindergarten (TK) jobs and has informed the state's credentialing policy for its TK program. The Center’s monthly analysis of national and metro child care job numbers brought significant media attention to the child care workforce shortages and the poverty wages behind them.

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CSCCE RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

California Early Care and Education (ECE) Workforce Study

Lea J.E. Austin, Raúl Chávez, Abby Copeman Petig, Sean Doocy, Yoonjeon Kim, Elena Montoya, Wanzi Muruvi, Anna Powell, and Ashley Williams

The 2020 California Early Care and Education (ECE) Workforce Study provides comprehensive statewide and regional information on the early care and education workforce. In late 2020, CSCCE surveyed approximately 7,700, home-based family child care providers, center administrators, center-based teaching staff members, and transitional kindergarten teachers. Respondents generously gave their time to share their experiences and information about their work, including program characteristics, characteristics of children served, program staffing, workforce demographics, as well as information on compensation, economic well-being, work environment, and the impact of COVID-19.

These findings are critical as California confronts systemic inequities in our early care and education system, examines opportunities for policy reform across the sector, and determines how to allocate unprecedented state and federal funding.

Explore the Study

The Future of Work

Research from the Labor Center, Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics, and the California Policy Lab informs public debates and labor policies on the future of work. Recent reports have examined emerging trends in independent contracting, the transition to a carbon-neutral economy, and technological change in the workplace.

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LABOR CENTER RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Data and Algorithms at Work: The Case for Worker Technology Rights

Annette Bernhardt, Reem Suleiman, and Lisa Kresge

The Labor Center’s groundbreaking report Data and Algorithms at Work: The Case for Worker Technology Rights offers a new and comprehensive set of policy principles for such rights in the United States. The report provides a timely, research-based framework for policymakers and worker advocates beginning to grapple with the need for technology rights given the growth of data-driven workplaces.

Read the Report

Watch a recording of the lively webinar with the authors and worker advocates, featuring California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer and former Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez below.

Photo by Nick Presniakov

Health Care and the Social Safety Net

IRLE researchers provide timely analysis of state and federal safety net programs and policy proposals. Labor Center health care research was used in a years-long campaign by health and immigrant advocates to bring health coverage to undocumented Californians, culminating in historic legislation last year. With an eye on providing a robust safety net for those that experience financial hardship, the California Policy Lab continues to partner with the state, county, and local agencies that administer safety-net programs to conduct research on barriers to access and to improve coordination and data integration.

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Photo by Jake Greenberg

LABOR CENTER RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

California’s Biggest Coverage Expansion Since the ACA: Extending Medi-Cal to All Low-Income Adults

Miranda Dietz, Laurel Lucia, Srikanth Kadiyala, Tynan Challenor, Annie Rak, Dylan H. Roby, and Gerald F. Kominski

For years, the Labor Center’s health research team has monitored the state’s progress toward universal access to health care for California’s residents, providing data on current and future gaps needing to be filled. Last year the team examined the impact of the proposal to expand Medi-Cal to all low-income California residents ages 26 to 49 regardless of immigration status. The researchers found that this legislation, which was passed in the summer of 2022, would cover close to 700,000 Californians and result in the largest decrease in the uninsured rate since the major insurance reforms in the ACA were implemented in 2014.

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Photo by Phil Roeder

Criminal Justice

Since 2011, California has embarked on a series of dramatic criminal justice reform efforts, from realignment to recent ballot initiatives and court cases that have changed the state’s approach to people convicted of nonviolent offenses and the structure of the pretrial process. These changes have coincided with a national conversation around the disparate impact of law enforcement on communities of color, as well as increased scrutiny of law enforcement, bail practices, and fees and fines.

The California Policy Lab (CPL) partners with city, county, and state criminal justice agencies, and conducts research to identify patterns, develop insights, and test new policies to help reduce recidivism, improve public safety, and advance racial equity for California.

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CALIFORNIA POLICY LAB RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

The Impacts of the Make-it-Right Program on Recidivism

Yotam Shem-Tov, Steven Raphael, and Alissa Skog

The California Policy Lab partnered with the San Francisco DA’s office on this randomized control trial. This restorative justice program resulted in a 30% reduction in recidivism over the course of four years, a striking result.

Read the Report

COVID Policies and Impacts

Leveraging our long track record of multidisciplinary research expertise and public policy analysis, IRLE’s centers have played an important role in research and policy analysis related to the pandemic. CPL, CSCCE, and Labor Center research teams have been providing rapid analysis to policymakers and the public on how existing inequities shaped workers' experience across industries and demographics, as well as strategies to protect the state's most vulnerable workers.

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CALIFORNIA POLICY LAB RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

Who Benefits from the Student Loan Payment Pause and What Will Happen When It Ends?

Niru Ghoshal-Datta, Vikram Jambulapati and Evan White

CPL’s research showed the financial impact the two-year “pause” had for more than 26 million Americans and also projected who might struggle with repayment once the pause ended. The research was covered by Business Insider, NerdWallet, Yahoo! Finance, and the Sacramento Bee. In August 2023, President Biden announced his plans to cancel $10,000 worth of student debt for some borrowers, and $20,000 for borrowers with Pell Grants.

Read the Report

Policy Impact and Outreach

IRLE research continues to influence public and policy debates around key issues impacting working families. Recent state and federal policy proposals and changes reflect the impact of research coming out of IRLE and our centers.

  • Labor Center research was used in a years-long campaign by health and immigrant advocates to bring health coverage to undocumented Californians. With a landmark piece of legislation this past summer, California became the first state in the country to extend Medicaid eligibility to undocumented residents, fully removing immigration status barriers to healthcare for low-income residents.
  • California's proposed Workplace Technology Accountability Act is the first bill of its kind in the US, and incorporates many of the principles outlined in the Labor Center's recent Data & Algorithms at Work report.
  • CSCCE research informed California’s credentialing policy for its transitional kindergarten (TK) program.
  • Labor Center analysis was a core component of the Healthy California for All Commission's report Key Design Considerations for a Unified Health Care Financing System in California.
  • Policy recommendations in CSCCE’s 2020 Early Childhood Workforce Index were reflected in the proposed federal American Families Plan and Build Back Better legislation, and national leaders like Senator Elizabeth Warren and the US Treasury cited the 2020 Index as evidence to reform child care policies.
  • CWED and Labor Center research on the minimum wage is reflected in the proposed federal Raise the Wage Act.
  • CPL research on the student loan pause was cited during a hearing held by Senator Elizabeth Warren focused on student debt.

Testimony and Technical Assistance

Last year, IRLE researchers provided expert testimony, technical assistance, and public comment to local, state, and national lawmakers. Highlights include:

  • Nari Rhee, director of the Labor Center's retirement security program, testified before a U.S. Senate Aging Committee hearing on the task of building a stronger retirement system for all Americans, focusing on how and why certain workers are excluded from the current system.
  • Lea Austin, executive director of the Center for Child Care Employment, testified before the House of Representatives’ Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on the urgent need to rebuild our child care system, starting with investing in early educators.
  • Laurel Lucia, director of the Labor Center's health care program, presented to the AB 133 Health Care Affordability Working Group on the affordability of out-of-pocket expenses in Covered California and the current challenges and options for measuring change. She was also was appointed by Governor Newsom to serve on the California Long Term Care Insurance Task Force.
  • Ken Jacobs, chair of the Labor Center, presented to the Healthy California for All Commission on financial stability for a unified financing health care system such as a single payer system.
  • Evan White, executive director of the California Policy Lab, presented to California Assembly and Senate staff, as well as Governor’s office staff, on CalExodus research.

IRLE experts also provided comment and technical assistance to:

  • California Department of Health and Human Services
  • House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth
  • The White House’s “AI Bill of Rights” initiative
  • National TANF Directors’ Meeting

Media Highlights

IRLE publications experts are widely cited in major state and national media outlets. Our research is helping to shape the public debate on topics ranging from the child care crisis and the gig economy, to the student loan pause and worker technology rights.

Leadership Development

The Labor Center's Leadership Development team has scaled up initiatives to prepare worker and community organizations to conduct their work more strategically. New offerings include the Skills to Win program, which aimed to deepen the ability of participants and their organizations to organize and improve conditions for workers on the job and in their communities. In early 2022, following the release of the groundbreaking report Turning the Tables: Participation and Power in Negotiations, author and strategist Jane McAlevey developed the widely attended Turning the Tables Study Group, which brought together over 50 unions in large teams to learn how to build worker power through big and open negotiations.

Financials

IRLE Central Spending

Thank you to our funders!

  • Administration for Children and Families
  • Alliance for Early Success
  • Arnold Ventures
  • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
  • Blue Shield of California Foundation
  • BlueGreen Alliance
  • Bylo Chacon Foundation
  • California Association of Counties
  • California Children and Families Commission (First 5 CA)
  • California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls
  • California Department of Education
  • California Department of Food and Agriculture
  • California Department of Motor Vehicles
  • The California Endowment
  • California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development
  • California Health Care Foundation
  • California Wellness Foundation
  • California Workforce Development Board
  • Clean Slate Initiative
  • Cornell University
  • Covered California
  • David and Lucile Packard Foundation
  • The Energy Foundation
  • Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
  • First 5 California
  • Ford Foundation
  • Foundation for Child Development
  • Heising-Simons Foundation
  • Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
  • Institute of Education Studies (IES)
  • Institute for Women’s Policy Research
  • The James Irvine Foundation
  • Lyle Spencer Foundation
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, J-PAL North America
  • National Education Association
  • The National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • New Venture Fund
  • Oregon Department of Education
  • Paris School of Economics
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  • Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
  • Rosenberg Foundation
  • Russell Sage Foundation
  • The European Research Council
  • The New School
  • The San Francisco Foundation
  • Tipping Point Community
  • TRIO Foundation
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • University of California Office of the President
  • W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation
  • W.K. Kellogg Foundation
  • Washington Center for Equitable Growth
  • The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
  • The William T. Grant Foundation

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