One in 17 homeless people in California has a job in the fast food industry

More than 10,000 homeless people in California currently work in the fast-food industry, according to a new economic study.

The study, conducted by Economic Roundtable, found that 3,595 homeless people work in fast-food restaurants in Los Angeles County alone.

Study co-author and Economic Roundtable President Daniel Flaming said that although many work without shelter in an industry that is highly profitable, low wages and a lack of full-time jobs mean many workers are unable to lift themselves out of poverty can work out.

Flaming estimates that 11 percent of California’s homeless workers. His organization used census data to complete the study. A separate study conducted by UCLA in 2020 found that 18 percent of people worked in Los Angeles’ homeless service system.

The minimum wage for workers in California is $15.50 an hour and in the city of Los Angeles it is $16.04 an hour. The state now has nearly a third of all homeless people in the United States.

More than 10,000 homeless people in California currently work in the fast-food industry, according to a new economic study

California accounts for about 1/3 of America’s total homeless population

The recent study found that the average homeless fast food worker who holds roles such as line cook and cashier makes about $15,000 per year. Most only work 26 hours a week, 1,300 a year, and struggle to find full-time hours.

These severe economic restrictions mean many are struggling to pay their rent or housing payments.

“Emergencies happen. You need to repair the car you drive to work in order to earn your income. And that costs you a lot of money. These are very fragile solutions that break easily,” Flaming told LAist.

“My hours have been cut. I only earn minimum wage. I get wage theft on top of that. I had a new promotion but didn’t get paid for it… I’m a little ashamed to work for a company that can’t even pay me what I owe, fast food worker and mother of -six Anneisha Williams said ABC Los Angeles.

In California, nearly 80 percent of fast-food workers are black, more than 60 percent are Latino, and two-thirds are women.

A law signed in the Golden State in September would have put the state on track to raise fast-food workers’ wages to $22 an hour.

The law met with fierce opposition from restaurant industry groups, who successfully campaigned to force it into a referendum in 2024.

Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat with potential presidential aspirations, briefly withheld $1 billion in funding from local governments because he was unhappy with their plans to reduce homelessness

Rows of tents line the streets of Los Angeles, one of many California cities struggling with a sharp rise in homelessness

A homeless man sits on a public bench in Beverly Grove, near Beverly Hills, on April 11, 2023

The referendum garnered more than 623,000 valid voter signatures to be placed on the November 5, 2024 ballot.

Passed last year, the nation’s first law establishes a 10-member council with the authority to set minimum wages and standards for hours and conditions for California’s fast-food workers. It would affect around 550,000 workers nationwide.

Two industry groups, the International Franchise Association and the National Restaurant Association, sponsored the referendum, which was to leave its fate to the voters.

Opponents, who raised more than $10 million last year to fund the referendum campaign, argue the law would burden franchise restaurant chain owners and drive up food costs.

On December 30, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge temporarily blocked the state from implementing the law while signatures on ballots were counted and verified.

The measure would have increased employee wages to as much as $22 an hour by the end of this year for chains like McDonald’s and Starbucks, which have 100 or more stores nationwide.

Labor groups supported the law, and the referendum fight could be a bitter and costly one, with both sides spending hundreds of millions of dollars to win voters.

The Service Employees International Union remained confident that the law would survive the election.

“Despite fast-food companies’ efforts to falsify the referendum process, we know that California voters are seeing through their tricks,” SEIU President Mary Kay Henderson said in a statement. “No company is more powerful than half a million workers banding together to demand a seat at the table.”

Meanwhile, the state of California continues to struggle with its homelessness problem.

Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat with potential presidential aspirations, briefly withheld $1 billion in funding from local governments because he was unhappy with their plans to reduce homelessness.

In March, the state sued the city of Huntington Beach, accusing its leaders of ignoring state housing laws that required them to build 13,000 new homes over the next eight years.

That same month, Newsom announced that California will spend about $30 million this year to build 1,200 small homes statewide.

The houses, some as small as 11 square meters, can be assembled in 90 minutes and cost a fraction of what it takes to build permanent housing.

According to Newsom, the homes can make room to clear homeless encampments that have sprung up in the state’s major cities. Federal courts have ruled that cities cannot vacate homeless camps if emergency shelters are not available.

“We need to focus more energy and precision on combating camps,” Newsom said. “There is no humanity there. People die under our watch.’