Study finds widespread homelessness among CA fast food workers: 'I feel somewhat ashamed'

Just because someone has a job, doesn't mean they have a home.

According to a study of California's fast food industry conducted by the Economic Roundtable, fast food workers make up 11% of all homeless workers in the state and 9% of all homeless workers in Los Angeles County.

Many frontline fast food workers - which includes cooks and cashiers, not managers - are part-time, averaging 1,300 hours per year compared to all other industries at more than 1,800 hours per year.

"My hours has been cut. I'm only making minimum wage. I'm also getting wage theft, at that. I had got a new promotion, but didn't get paid for the promotion... I feel somewhat ashamed that I work for a company that can't even pay me what I'm owed," said Anneisha Williams, a fast food worker in L.A. County.

California's fast food workers are nearly 80% people of color, more than 60% are Latino and two-thirds are women.

Williams, a mother of six, lives paycheck to paycheck and constantly worries about whether she'll get evicted.

"Some people sleep in their car and they go to work and you don't even know that. They might have not even showered that day. But, you wouldn't even know that because they go with a happy face every day. I'm one of those people," she said.

In September of 2022, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 257 into law. That gave fast food workers the ability organize and raise wages, but that law is on hold after the fast food industry raised millions to fight it. California voters will decide next year whether to repeal the law.

"The industry as a whole has to step up and become sustainable for its labor force. The industry is highly profitable - $12 to $14 billion a year. They flourished during COVID... They bring in $59 in revenue for every hour that somebody is on the job. They're profitable companies," said Daniel Flaming, who is with the Economic Roundtable and conducted the study on California's fast food industry.