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# Gender & Housing in California
## An Analysis of the Gender Impacts of California's Housing Affordability Crisis
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###### August 2022
###### Topic(s)
* Economic Security, Housing
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###### Table of Contents
### Key Findings
* 49% of women are rent burdened, compared to 43% of men
* 25% of women are severely rent burdened, compared to 20% of men
* 59% of Black women are rent burdened and 33% are severely rent burdened
* 66% of women who live alone are rent burdened
* Women-headed households are 5 times as likely as households headed by a married couple to be extremely low-income
* 73% of single mothers are rent burdened, compared to just 56% of single fathers
* One third of elderly Black and Latina women living alone have income below the federal poverty line
* 4 in 10 of the 232,000 unhoused individuals in California are women
### Summary
Few are immune to California’s high cost of housing. But the burden of the housing affordability crisis falls heaviest on women—especially Black, Latina, and Native American women, single mothers, and the elderly. ()
About 10.3 million Californian adults live in housing considered unaffordable by standard measures. To rent a one-bedroom apartment at the fair market rate in California requires an income of nearly $58,000— or a wage of $28 per hour for a full-time worker. The median price of a single-family home in California, as of April 2022, was $884,890.
 at the request of the California State Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development, analyzed extensive data on Californians’ housing experience to examine the impact of the housing crisis on women.
In California, more than half (52%) of renters spend over 30% of their income on housing and are considered “rent burdened.” More than a quarter (26%) spend over 50% of their income and are considered “severely rent burdened.”
Women are more likely than men to be rent burdened and severely rent burdened. They are less likely to own their own homes. When they do, they are more likely to be shouldering unaffordable housing costs. They are more likely than men to have extremely low income.
As the following report documents, the greater difficulty women face in securing affordable housing is deeply intertwined with systemic gender inequality in the broader society.
The soaring cost of housing weakens California’s economy and harms most of the state’s communities. With California’s unprecedented budget surplus, the resources to put the state on a more sustainable course for housing are available. And with the state’s political and business leadership committed to finding equitable solutions to our housing crisis, the moment is ripe for adopting a gender responsive approach to housing policymaking
##### Recommendations
* Target housing assistance to single parent households, elderly people living alone, and those at the very lowest income levels.
* Dedicate increased state funding to the housing crisis.
* Incentivize the production of affordable housing, particularly in urban areas and other population and job centers.
* Integrate a gender-lens in housing policymaking.
* Incorporate gender-responsive design principles in new housing development.
* Implement a gender-responsive approach to the unique challenges faced by unhoused LGBTQ+ people and women.
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### Accelerating progress on gender equity through research and policy development
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##### Stay up to date on GEPI reports, news, and more.
###### ©2024 Gender Equity Policy Institute. All Rights Reserved.
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# Undocumented & Essential in California
## A data-based analysis of the economic challenges faced by undocumented women in California
###### February 2022
* Economic Security, Women's Health
* Undocumented women earn 49 cents to every $1 earned by white men
* 62% are in the labor force
* The median income of women working in the ten most common occupations is $22,337, roughly $3,500 below the poverty threshold for a family of four
* Only 55% have health insurance
* Undocumented women are half as likely to live in a home owned by themselves or a family member, compared to California women overall
* 21% live below the poverty line
* 70% are Latina, 21% are Asian Pacific Islander
* At least 800,000 of the 1.8 million children living with undocumented mothers are U.S. citizens
## Summary
Nearly one million immigrant women who are undocumented live, work, and raise their families in California. They harvest, prepare, pack, and serve the food that sustains the United States. They are college students and businesswomen. They care for the young, the elderly, and the sick. They clean the offices, hotels, and homes of California businesses and families. They are mothers to upwards of 1.8 million California children.
Yet just as these women are compelled by their immigration status to live in the shadows, their lives, labors, and aspirations are rendered invisible in public debate about America’s immigration system. Forty-five percent of undocumented people in the United States are women. But when the media or politicians discuss America’s immigration challenges, the immigrants they talk about tend to be men. With men as the norm, women’s distinctive experiences and concerns are ignored.
The Gender Equity Policy Institute’s “Undocumented and Essential” presents a data-based profile of California’s undocumented women, their families, work, and economic challenges. While other institutes and researchers have published estimates on the number of undocumented people in the U.S. and how many are women and men, no others have disaggregated demographic and labor force data by gender to investigate the living conditions of undocumented women specifically.
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As the following report shows, undocumented women make vital contributions to California’s economy. They have high rates of labor force participation. The industries in which they work are critical to the success and growth of the state’s $3.4 trillion economy. But undocumented women face significant barriers in their efforts to access economic opportunity—barriers that are higher than those encountered by undocumented men. Undocumented women are paid less for similar work than all other Californian workers. They have high rates of poverty and low rates of homeownership and health insurance.
Undocumented women are integral members of California’s dynamic economy, diverse communities, and vibrant cultures. As policymakers look ahead, the 2022 budget surplus provides an opportunity to uplift the families of 2.2 million undocumented Californians who make up a critical mass of the state’s workforce and help propel economic growth in the nation’s largest economy.
# Essential Wages: New Hampshire
## An analysis of the impact of raising the minimum wage on tipped workers in New Hampshire
###### April 2022
* Economic Security
* 73% of all tipped workers in New Hampshire are women
* Three-quarters of tipped workers in New Hampshire are waiters and bartenders
* 81% of waiters and 58% of bartenders are women
* 22% of women waiters and bartenders working year round have earnings below 150% of the federal poverty line
* Income from wages will double for the majority of women waiters and bartenders
* Full-time tipped workers will see gains of $21,367 or more per year
* The typical woman waiter or bartender will get a raise of $19,535
* The typical man waiter or bartender will get a raise of $24,108
New Hampshire is one of 43 states and the District of Columbia in which tipped restaurant and hospitality workers are paid a subminimum cash wage, leaving them financially dependent on tips from customers for a large portion of their income. Seven states currently legislate an equal minimum wage for all, with no subminimum wages for tipped, disabled, or young workers.
Many New Hampshire tipped workers struggle to make ends meet. Only 15% earn on par or above the state median income. As is the case with so many minimum wage jobs, women make up the overwhelming majority of tipped New Hampshire workers. The annual median income for these women is 60% below the state median income.
Currently, New Hampshire’s tipped minimum wage is $3.26 per hour. Increases in the tipped minimum historically have been pegged to increases in the regular minimum. But Governor Chris Sununu signed a bill last year that would freeze the tipped minimum wage, should the federal minimum wage increase. The new measure in effect will prevent any raise in cash wages for tipped workers.
In response to a nationwide movement to raise the minimum wage, many states have increased their minimum wages above the federal minimum. Advocates, workers, and policymakers have called for an end to all subminimum wages and an increase of the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
 analyzed current wages and income for tipped employees working in New Hampshire to estimate the effects of a $15 per hour minimum wage coupled with the elimination of the tipped wage. The Institute’s analysis demonstrates that these changes would have profound positive benefits for tipped workers, particularly for women. Implementing these measures would significantly advance gender equity, thus earning the policy change a rating of 93% on the Institute’s Intersectional Gender Equity Scale.
# Tackling the Student Debt Crisis
## An analysis of proposals to increase Pell Grants and the impact on reducing student debt
###### September 2021
The Institute projects that by doubling the Pell Grant:
* Community college students who receive the maximum Pell award will graduate debt-free.
* Bachelor's students who receive the maximum award will see a 79% reduction in debt.
* Students, on average, will see their debt slashed in half or more.
More than 25 million people could benefit from increasing Pell:
* 1 in 4 adults under the age of 40 are eligible for a Pell Grant.
* 53% of women eligible for a Pell are women of color.
* 1.9 million Dreamers and people eligible for DACA would be included in the Pell Grant program for the first time under the Pell Grant Preservation & Expansion Act of 2021.
The average annual cost to attend a four-year public institution has nearly tripled since 1980. Following decades of rising tuition and costs for higher education, roughly 43 million Americans owe more than $1.7 trillion in student loans. Graduates take an average of 20 years to fully pay off their loans. Burdened by student debt as they enter the workforce, they often have to put off buying a home, saving for retirement, or starting a family. And those who default face a host of negative consequences.
Various policies to alleviate the student debt crisis have been proposed, and several include increasing Pell Grants, an important source of support for higher education for Americans with financial need.
Congress’s budget reconciliation plan includes proposals to increase the amount of the Pell Grant and make community college free. Likewise, a bill before both chambers, *The Pell Grant Preservation & Expansion Act of 2021*, substantially increases the Pell award—doubling the maximum award to $13,000—and includes measures to encourage college attendance and stabilize the Pell Grant program overall.
The  analyzed data on past and current student demographics, college costs, and student debt to assess the impact of proposed improvements to the Pell Grant program, with particular focus on how the benefits would be distributed across gender, race, and ethnicity.
The Institute calls attention to the way increasing Pell Grants and improving the program is appropriately responsive to the ways in which gender norms and roles impact access to higher education and the financial rewards that accrue to degree-holders. The mix of increasing the award and greater support for part-time study represents a nuanced approach to tackling the different challenges faced by women and men. People of color will see large reductions in student debt. The Act earns a score of 88% on the Gender Equity Policy Institute’s gender equity scale.
# Essential Wages: New York
## An analysis of New York State’s proposed elimination of the tipped minimum wage and its impact on low-wage women workers
###### June 2021
* 58% of tipped workers in restaurant and food service are women.
* 73% of New York’s tipped food service workers are waiters and bartenders and 62% of these waiters and bartenders are women.
* The majority of women waiters and bartenders would see their annual income rise more than 40% over their current earnings.
* The majority of women of color in these two occupations would see annual gains of roughly $9,100 a year.
* Full-time women waiters and bartenders would see gains of $10,400 per year.
* 56% of waiters and bartenders currently make less than $15 per hour. A quarter of these women earn less than 1.5 times the federal poverty line.
New York is one of 42 states where tipped workers in the food service industry receive a subminimum wage and earn much of their income primarily from tips. Even as New York phases in a minimum wage increase to $15 per hour, under current law the tipped minimum wage will reach only $10 per hour.
The tipped minimum wage leaves many workers struggling to make ends meet. For example, women waiters in New York earn only 45 percent of the national median income—their earnings are even lower compared to New York’s relatively high median income. One out of four women waiters and bartenders fall below 150 percent of the federal poverty line.
Advocates, workers, and policy-makers have called for an end to the subminimum wage and a raise for tipped workers to the regular minimum wage. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation creates an opportunity for Governor Kathy Hochul to enact this policy for food service workers by executive order.
 conducted an analysis of the potential impacts of the policy  by gender, race, and ethnicity. The policy change received a rating of 93%, earning it recognition as a model for advancing gender equity.