IRLE Publications

More than half of college students must work, many in low-wage jobs, in order to pay the high costs of college tuition and living expenses (Ángeles et al. 2020). Now more than ever, workers and learners are feeling the impact of rising inflation, the lack of institutional financial support, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the challenges of working to pay their bills while keeping up with the demands of school to create a better future.

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Media Inquires: Marcos Ruiz Rojas, marcosruiz1999@ucla.edu

Nationwide, almost one in two of full-time undergraduate students are employed. This qualitative study investigates how 69 workers and learners, who were full-time students in a Los Angeles County public college or university and who had a job, leveraged the wealth of knowledge and resources embedded in their familial and peer networks to strategically manage the demands of school and work.

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Media Inquiries: Citlalli Chávez-Nava, citlallichavez@ucla.edu

Current studies on the impact of politics on personal well-being have often come from the perspective of constituents. However, recent news headlines have made clear the need for additional research on the role of mental health and mindfulness for public servants. We argue that in order to practice sustainability and be more effective and compassionate public servants, our leaders need more tools to withstand the many stressors of holding elected office.

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Media Inquiries: Emily Jo Wharry, emilyjowharry@ucla.edu

This reports provides a comprehensive analysis of California's Car Wash Worker Law consisting of a combination of quantitative data analysis of wage claim filings and qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with car washers, labor law attorneys, Deputy Labor Commissioners and industry stakeholders conducted between January and March 2022. Six major findings and four policy options highlight the need for increased personnel in the Labor Commissioner's Office as well as more punitive measures to prevent wage theft.

For the past five years, the UCLA Labor Studies Program has offered a course for students involved with the work for social justice, entitled Spirituality, Mindfulness, Self-Compassion and Social Justice Activism. In this course, students learn about the role of spirituality and mindfulness practice in the work of non-violence and social justice. With grant support from the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute, the UCLA Labor Center conducted a survey of students who had enrolled in the course, and analyzed how the course teachings were continuing to benefit them today.

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Media Inquiries: Citlalli Chávez-Nava, 310-562-0943, citlallichavez@ucla.edu

This article focuses on the mechanisms created to intentionally include and allow for the full participation of workers and learners throughout the research process, which is consistent with the core components of more critical community-engaged scholarship (e.g., real-life social problems are defined, investigated, and addressed with or by the community.

This study analyzes the concept of time theft and the lack of protections for the stability of workers’ time, and thus their income, and provides insights into efforts to protect workers’ time and social well-being through burgeoning workers’ movements.

The estimates of the economic gains of an inclusive immigration reform we present here are conservative and focus on the regularization of immigrant workers who currently reside in the United States; however, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 and other legislative proposals would also provide a path for increased legal immigration, which would also improve economic efficiency and result in higher GDP growth, tax revenues, job creation, and international remittances. Therefore, a more complete estimate of the economic impact of the U.S. Citizenship Act would account for increased legal immigration. This increased immigration could produce additional GDP gains of $957 billion over 10 years (assuming the arrival of 700,000 authorized immigrants per year). Remittances to Mexico and Central America are estimated to produce a total flow of $1.2 trillion, resulting in increased U.S. exports to the region as well as increased savings which can be used to address root causes of outmigration as called for in the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. However, we do not address remittances or projected flows of new migration in this brief.

This report examines the state informal workers organizing in the domestic and construction sectors in China, India, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States. The study found that regardless of the sector or nation, by banding together, informal workers have been successful in expanding their rights and building power.

Media Contact

Media Inquiries: Citlalli Chávez-Nava, 310-562-0943, citlallichavez@ucla.edu

The report tracked film and television diversity data since 2014, making the study the most comprehensive record of the industry’s progress on diversity hiring.