Six out of every ten Californians with incomes below the poverty line (less than $25,000 for a family of four) live in a working family.
Working for low-wages not only leaves working families with not enough money to last the month, it also means they go without their basic needs met. According Shelved: How Wages and Working Conditions for California’s Food Retail Workers have Declined as the Industry has Thrived, authored by Saru Jayaraman of U.C. Berkeley’s Food Labor Research Center and co-founder/co-director of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and U.C. Davis Associate Professor of Community and Regional Development Chris Benner, many low-income workers in the retail industry and food retail industry were paid so little that they were unable to afford enough food to prevent hunger for them and their family.
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