Insights and Analyses

• In 2023, about 17% of immigrant workers with full-time jobs experienced economic hardship, living 200 percent below the federal poverty line.

• Among immigrants, about 33% of undocumented immigrant workers experienced economic hardship, followed by 17% of immigrant workers, 16% of lawful residents, and 10% of naturalized U.S. citizens in 2023.

• Guatemalan, Mexican, Salvadoran, Arab, Dominican, Syrian, Cambodian, and Hmong immigrant full-time workers experienced the highest rates of economic hardship among California’s immigrant communities.

• A 2023 national survey of immigrants by KFF in partnership with the L.A. Times showed that despite the high levels of employment among immigrants, 1 in 3 immigrants reported challenges affording necessities like food, housing, and healthcare. Among low-income immigrants, 1 in 4 reported difficulties paying their bills each month and almost half reported they are “just able to pay their bills each month.”

• According to a 2024 California Budget and Policy Center report, California ranked the highest among all 50 states alongside Louisiana when it comes to poverty. Using the Census’ annual supplemental poverty measure, CBPC reported that the state poverty rate has been increasing in recent years after dropping between 2020 and 2021 due to pandemic-related state investment in anti-poverty programs and policies that have since expired. According to CBPC, poverty rates have increased for all age groups, and in particular, remain high for older adults and children.

• Those employed in service and agricultural work – occupations with higher proportions of immigrant workers – tend to have high poverty rates, according to an October 2023 Public Policy in California report on the working poor.

• The Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality and the Public Policy Institute of California’s (PPIC) “health inclusive” California Poverty Measure (CPM), is an alternative measure of those living in poverty that takes into account housing and safety net benefits for those living in the state. According to this measure, about 1.3 million workers aged 25-64 in California were living in poverty in the first quarter of 2023. Among these, about 84 percent were employed year round and 47 percent were employed full time, while 37 percent were employed part time. In addition, PPIC’s analysis based on this measure found that full expansion of the Medi-Cal program could reduce the level of poverty among immigrants by about 2.9 percentage points, or about 125,000 people. The same measure found that this type of expansion could also yield benefits for mixed-status families.

• According to a 2024 report by the Williams Institute, California is home to approximately 211,000 Latinx LGBT immigrants, 68,800 of whom do not have green cards. Their analysis of data gathered between 2015 and 2021 from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) shows that, while most Latinx LGBT immigrants without green cards were in the workforce (93%), about 64% earn below 200% of the federal poverty level.

• A 2024 report by the Williams Institute also estimates that approximately 41,000 transgender immigrants reside in California. Their analysis of CHIS data collected between 2015 to 2021, shows that among respondents, nearly 80 percent of transgender immigrants were in the workforce. Further, about one-fourth of transgender immigrants were living in poverty.

• Estimates by the Williams Institute show that Asian LGBT immigrants comprised nearly 14% of the state’s Asian LGBT adult population. Their analysis of CHIS data collected between 2015 and 2021 also revealed that while most Asian LGBT immigrants were in the workforce, nearly one-third lived below 200% of the federal poverty level. Further, nearly 40% reported they did not have a usual source of healthcare.

Expanding and strengthening safety net programs could lift millions of working Californians—U.S. born and immigrants alike—out of poverty.

The level of poverty in California has fluctuated significantly over the last five years. As highlighted in this indicator, there are many immigrant families that find themselves experiencing poverty despite working full-time or part-time jobs. Advocates and organizers across the state have highlighted various methods that could mitigate working poverty rates that range from increasing wages to making work authorization more accessible. A proven method of lifting individuals and families out of poverty has been social safety programs—and there are many types of these programs that can make a tangible difference by providing access to necessities that then allow families to spend their limited financial means on other expenses and thus keep them out of poverty. Some of those programs focus more specifically on providing access to resources like unemployment benefits, tax credits like CalEITC, nutritional food, and healthcare. As a result, advocates have organized multiple anti-poverty campaigns and policy measures. Safety Net 4 All is just one coalitional effort borne by organizers and focuses on increasing access to critical unemployment benefits for all immigrants regardless of status. Over 120 diverse organizations contribute to the campaign, and they organize around how to incorporate immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants, into the state’s unemployment system as they do contribute significantly to unemployment funds but do not currently benefit from them. Ongoing campaigns like Safety Net 4 All and others that aim to expand such resources have been met with setbacks and criticisms. Some question the financial burden it would create, whether this method of tackling poverty would be sustainable, and if it is the most effective way to bring workers out of poverty. In the face of these concerns, advocates point to successful examples like Colorado, which already has benefits in place for undocumented workers that are unemployed.

Food4All is another campaign that fights against poverty for immigrants through expanded public benefits, specifically through food assistance programs such as CalFresh and the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP). These programs provide access to food assistance to low wage earners, but there are exclusions for undocumented immigrants (although undocumented immigrants aged 55 and over will have access beginning October 2025). This is despite that fact that there is research finding that 45% of undocumented California residents are food insecure as of 2022. Overall poverty rates dropped after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic , due in part to the expansion of CalFresh benefits to March 2023. But by the end of April 2023, the California poverty rate had increased over 1%—amassing to 5 million people across the state. This is likely due to the expiration of social benefits like food assistance that were temporarily expanded due to the pandemic. Now that those expansions have ended, poverty rates have increased significantly, showing us a clear path forward to addressing poverty and especially working poverty rates for immigrants and non-immigrants alike. Nourish California recommends Food4All as a policy solution to lifting many more undocumented people out of poverty as the program would remove the status barrier to receiving CalFresh benefits.

Photo credit: California Immigrant Policy Center