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Executive Summary

The 2019 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) California Workers Survey, a landmark survey conducted jointly by PRRI and AAPI Data, provides a portrait of the working lives of AAPI Californians via a survey of 2,684 AAPI California residents. For the purposes of this study, respondents are classified as “working and struggling with poverty” if they meet two criteria: 1) They are currently employed either full or part-time or are unemployed but still seeking employment; and 2) They live in households that have an adjusted income that is 250% or less than the U.S. Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, adapted for regional location in California.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are an important and fast-growing part of the California workforce. They have been the fastest-growing racial groups in California since 2000, with immigration fueling much of the growth. Although statistical averages show that AAPIs as a whole exhibit relatively high levels of employment and earning power, this report reveals significant areas of concern. Like for the rest of the population, we find a state of “two Californias” among AAPIs—one where some AAPI workers report a great deal of financial stability and one in which other AAPI workers report significant financial insecurity and struggle. This report reflects the findings of the first comprehensive survey of AAPI California residents, with a special focus on those who are working and struggling with poverty. The report provides a broad portrait of their opinions and experiences.

Executive Summary

The 2019 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) California Workers Survey, a landmark survey conducted jointly by PRRI and AAPI Data, provides a portrait of the working lives of AAPI Californians via a survey of 2,684 AAPI California residents. For the purposes of this study, respondents are classified as “working and struggling with poverty” if they meet two criteria: 1) They are currently employed either full or part-time or are unemployed but still seeking employment; and 2) They live in households that have an adjusted income that is 250% or less than the U.S. Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, adapted for regional location in California.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are an important and fast-growing part of the California workforce. They have been the fastest-growing racial groups in California since 2000, with immigration fueling much of the growth. Although statistical averages show that AAPIs as a whole exhibit relatively high levels of employment and earning power, this report reveals significant areas of concern. Like for the rest of the population, we find a state of “two Californias” among AAPIs—one where some AAPI workers report a great deal of financial stability and one in which other AAPI workers report significant financial insecurity and struggle. This report reflects the findings of the first comprehensive survey of AAPI California residents, with a special focus on those who are working and struggling with poverty. The report provides a broad portrait of their opinions and experiences.

Nearly one in four California AAPIs are working and struggling with poverty. For some groups, the proportions are much higher.

  • Nearly one in four (23%) AAPIs in California are working but struggling with poverty; 37% are working but not struggling with poverty, and 40% are retired, students, or otherwise not working.
  • Among AAPI workers in California, 38% are struggling with poverty, while 62% are not.
  • There are significant differences among AAPI ethnic groups:
    • Hmong (44%) and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (36%) Californians have the highest proportions of their populations who are working and struggling with poverty.
    • One in five or more Cambodians (26%), Vietnamese (26%), Chinese (23%), Filipinos (22%), Japanese (22%), and Indians (20%) are working and struggling with poverty.
    • Among AAPI groups in California, Koreans (15%) are the least likely to be working and struggling with poverty.
  • Importantly, no AAPI group is exempt from the struggles facing Californians: the relatively large numbers of Chinese, Filipino, Indian, and Korean Americans in California mean that they, too, are well-represented among the millions of Californians who are struggling with poverty. For example, Chinese (30%) and Filipinos (24%) account for a majority of AAPI Californians who are working and struggling with poverty.
  • The San Joaquin Valley (50%) and Inland Empire (37%) regions have the highest proportion of AAPIs who are working and struggling with poverty.

More than one in ten AAPI Californians work in the “gig economy.”

  • Overall, 14% of AAPI Californians report participating in the gig economy last year, defined as being paid for performing miscellaneous tasks or providing services for others, such as shopping, delivering household items, assisting with childcare, or driving for a ride-hailing app.
  • AAPI workers who are struggling with poverty are about twice as likely as workers who are not struggling to report participating in the gig economy last year (24% vs. 15%)
  • Native-born AAPI are almost three times as likely as foreign-born AAPI Californians to work in gig-economy jobs (26% vs. 10%).
  • Among AAPI subgroups, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (30%) are more than twice as likely as AAPI Californians overall to participate in the gig economy. Additionally, AAPI residents of San Joaquin Valley (36%) are much more likely than residents of any other region to participate in the gig economy.

AAPI Californians remain somewhat optimistic about the existence of the American Dream and the California Dream, but question the “bootstrap” narrative.

  • A majority (62%) of AAPI Californians believe the American Dream—that if you work hard, you’ll get ahead–still holds true. Majorities of both those who are working and not struggling with poverty (56%) and those who are working and struggling with poverty (56%) believe in the American Dream, although both groups are less likely to say this than those who are not working (70%).
  • Notably, some degree of immigrant optimism seems to be at work here. AAPI Californians who are born outside the U.S. are more likely than those born inside the U.S. to believe the American Dream still holds true (69% vs. 43%). Groups with a lower proportion of foreign-born members—such as Japanese, Hmong, and NHPI—express the lowest levels of belief that the American Dream still holds true today.
  • Only four in ten (39%) AAPI Californians believe that it is harder to achieve the American Dream in California than elsewhere in the U.S.; most believe it is either easier (31%) or the same (24%) as elsewhere. There are no significant differences in opinions between AAPI California workers who are struggling with poverty and those who are not.

At the same time, despite displaying higher levels of financial security and optimism than the average Californian, a majority of AAPI Californians question the “bootstrap” narrative that “hard work and determination alone” guarantee success for most people.

  • A majority (55%) of AAPI Californians disagree that “hard work and determination alone” guarantee success for most people.
  • About two-thirds of AAPI Californians (64%) working and struggling with poverty, compared to a smaller majority (54%) of AAPI workers who are not struggling with poverty disagree with this bootstrap narrative.

AAPI Californians report facing a range of economic hardships, as well as racial discrimination.

  • More than eight in ten (82%) Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders report that they experienced at least one of ten possible economic hardships, like being unable to pay a monthly bill or having to use food stamps, as have about seven in ten Hmong (76%), Cambodians (71%), and Vietnamese (70%).
  • Japanese (55%), Chinese (53%), and Koreans (52%) are significantly less likely to report experiencing at least one economic hardship.
  • AAPI struggling workers are significantly more likely than non-struggling workers to have experienced at least one of these issues (77% vs. 59%) or to have experienced four or more of these issues (40% vs. 13%).
  • AAPI Californians are more likely to report dealing with racial discrimination than Californians overall (17% vs. 12%, respectively).[1]
  • Among AAPI subgroups, experiences of racial discrimination are highest among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (29%) and Indians (24%).

AAPI Californians who are working and struggling with poverty are more likely than workers who are economically secure to report that they or someone in their household have experienced a variety of negative workplace experiences in the past year.

  • Four in ten (41%) AAPI Californians report that they or a member of their household have experienced at least one negative workplace experience in the past year.
  • AAPI workers who are struggling with poverty are more likely than non-struggling workers to have been required to work overtime without being paid for it (25% vs. 16%), to be paid less than the minimum wage (20% vs. 5%), or to have had their wages withheld by their employer (14% vs. 5%).
  • Combined, 35% of AAPI Californians who are working and struggling with poverty report experiencing at least one of these forms of wage theft in the last year, compared to 19% of non-struggling workers.

Most AAPI California workers feel replaceable.

  • More than six in ten (63%) AAPI Californians say that employers generally see people like them as replaceable.
  • AAPI workers who are struggling with poverty (70%) are roughly as likely as more financially secure workers (64%) to say that employers generally see people like them as replaceable.

AAPI Californians who are working and struggling with poverty tend to believe that the deck is stacked against them economically, but a significant minority also see the importance of civic engagement and most see workers organizing to protect their rights as important.

  • AAPIs report rates of civic engagement roughly comparable to the general California population, regardless of whether AAPIs are working and struggling with poverty or more financially secure.
  • The vast majority (69%) of AAPI Californians agree that it is important for workers to organize so that employers do not take advantage of them, including 76% of struggling workers and 74% of non-struggling workers.