A study from the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute released Wednesday analyzed the Latinx workforce across the state of California, with a focus on L.A. County, the Bay Area, the central San Joaquin Valley and the north San Joaquin Valley. Included in the data collected by the program’s Latino Data Hub — which uses data predominantly from 2022 for this study — are examinations of demographics, human capital and employment conditions of a group of workers that makes up 40% of California’s total workforce.
The study’s authors — Miguel Hernández, Alberto Vargas, Rosario Majano, Misael Galdámez and Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas — found that Latinx workers in the counties surveyed continue to face a litany of structural challenges, such as significant wage gaps, low rates of homeownership and high uninsured rates.
“These profiles are a reminder that Latino workers are not only central to California’s economy, but that they face steep inequities — from wage gaps that persist even with college degrees, to high exposure to automation, to barriers in housing and health coverage,” said Dominguez-Villegas, one of the study’s authors and the director of research for the Latino Policy and Politics Institute, in a news release. “Understanding these regional dynamics is crucial for shaping workforce strategies that are inclusive and equitable.”
Here are some key takeaways from the study, specific to L.A. County:
Latinx workers, by far, make up the largest percentage of the county’s workforce
Latinx workers made up 48% of the county’s workforce, which is 9 percentage points higher than the percentage they make up of the statewide workforce. Of all the Latinx workers, 46% were immigrants. White, non-Hispanic workers are the second-largest group, making up 27% of county laborers. From 2000 to 2022, the Latinx population accounted for 88% the county’s workforce growth.
Gender and class disparities in occupation
In 2022, Latinas were 6% less likely to work in white-collar, high-wage professions than their countywide counterparts; meanwhile Latinos were 7% less likely to have those types of roles compared with their countywide counterparts. Conversely, the Latinx workforce is more likely to have lower-wage, labor-intensive jobs. Compared with 22% of women and 15% of men employed in the county, 29% of Latinas and 19% of Latinos were employed in service roles.
Latinas are the most underpaid major demographic
At an average per-hour pay of $18, Latinas earned $4 less per hour than all employed women in the county. Across all but one industry (construction), Latinas earned less than Latinos, who earned $13 less an hour than all men in the county in 2022.
A college education doesn’t bridge the pay gap
Latinos with a bachelor’s degree or higher earned a median wage of $34 an hour, the lowest wage among men in the county. Meanwhile, Latinas with at least a bachelor’s degree have a median wage of $30 an hour, which amounts to the lowest wage among all workers with similar credentials in the county. Non-Hispanic Black workers earned the second-lowest wages among men and women at $38 for men and $35 for women.
“These disparities suggest that Latino and Black workers in Los Angeles County face barriers to accessing higher-paying jobs beyond access to education,” the study’s authors wrote.
Among non-citizens, Latinx workers earn less
Latinx people without U.S. citizenship earned a median hourly wage of $16 — $4 less than U.S.-born Latinx people and $6 less than naturalized Latinx citizens. The median hourly wage for white non-citizens was $31 and $21 for Black non-citizens.
Latinx workers have high rates of poverty and low-income conditions
In 2022, 20% of Latinx workers were considered low-income, the highest percentage of all major demographic in the county. Black workers experience the highest rate of poverty at 9%, with Latinx workers close behind at 8%. In total, over 1 in 4 Latinx workers fell into one of these two income categories.
Latinx workers struggle to attain employer-provided health insurance
Of all employed workers in the county, 58% had employer- or union-provided health insurance. Only 52% of Latinx workers had similar health benefits from employers or unions. Latinos have the highest uninsured rate at 22%, which is 8% higher than all employed men. Latinas have a 13% uninsured rate, 4% higher than all employed women.
Homeownership evades Latinx people at a high rate
Latinx workers had the second-lowest rate of homeownership at 43%, which was 5 percentage points less than all county workers. Black workers had the lowest rate at 37%. Of all Latinx workers, 28% lived in an overcrowded home, meaning the households had more than one person per one room of a housing unit.
