Everyone who wants to work should have quality, empowered jobs.

Black workers in particular face persistent obstacles to getting and keeping good jobs, and were slowest to recover following pandemic job hits. While employment rates fail to show the quality of jobs workers have, the racial disparities in this simple measure are still dramatic: in San Francisco, white adults are 26 percent more likely than their Black peers to be employed.

Good job creation also requires pathways to those jobs.

In San Francisco, middle-wage and high wage jobs have shown moderate growth (24 percent and 34 percent respectively from 1990-2021). Improving job quality and protections for all workers in all sectors is essential for building a more equitable and sustainable regional economy.

Economic growth should benefit all workers and communities.

Bay Area decision-makers have implemented economic policies that created unprecedented wealth in our region for those in the highest wage jobs, at the expense of those in low and middle wage jobs.

Pay for the highest-earning workers in San Francisco has increased by 94 percent since 1990, while earned income has increased by only 29 percent over the same period for those in the lowest-paid jobs. This even modest increase for the lowest-paid workers is notable, given all other Bay Area counties saw decreases over this period. This change is likely attributable to San Francisco’s region-leading minimum wage increases.

Worker power is the only time tested, scalable strategy to create family-sustaining jobs.

Strengthening unions and other forms of organizing that build collective power is essential to improving job quality, and can increase the availability of a skilled workforce. Native American and Black workers in the Bay Area are most likely to belong to unions. But overall, more than five out of six workers in the region are not protected by union membership.

Eliminating barriers to employment and closing racial wage gaps could boost San Francisco’s economy by 40 percent.

The Bay Area is at a crossroads. We can either double down on the inequitable economic and employment trends of the past 40 years, or reimagine an economy that is powered by the full collective potential of our region.

In 2020 alone, employment and wage inequities cost San Francisco’s economy an estimated $76 billion in unrealized GDP.

The Bay Area becomes more diverse every year. Economic opportunity does not.

About 60 percent of San Francisco residents are people of color, just slightly higher than in 2000. Notably, while the Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latinx, and multiracial communities have grown as a share of the overall population, displacement of San Francisco’s Black population has resulted in a decline from 12 percent in 1990 to 5 percent in 2020. Diversity and inclusion must be cornerstones of a thriving Bay Area future.

Educational attainment is an important contributor to economic freedom. Persistent racial inequities in education must be eliminated.

In San Francisco, 64 percent of adults have at least a bachelor’s degree, including 81 percent of white adults. By contrast, only 31 percent of Black adults and 41 percent of Latinx adults have a four-year degree.

The Bay Area economy is controlled by those who benefit the most from the status quo; inequities preserve political power for the few.

In San Francisco, white workers are paid an average of 20 percent more than the County’s overall median wage, compared to Black workers being paid about 40 percent less than the median, and Latinx immigrants receiving 49 percent less than the overall median wage.

And while public sector employment has historically been a source of well-paying jobs for workers of color, a 2021 audit found that white San Francisco city employees on average make $24 per hour more than employees of color.

How much you get paid determines how much you can afford; only 62 percent of working people in San Francisco can afford basic family living expenses.

Only 35 percent of Black and 34 percent of Latinx full-time working people in San Francisco are paid enough to cover the cost of living for a family of four with two full-time working adults, compared to 76 percent of their white counterparts.

Working people of color continue to be concentrated in lower-wage jobs.

Black and Latinx working people are crowded in occupations that tend to offer lower quality jobs, while white and Asian American working people are overrepresented in several high-paying fields.

In San Francisco, Latinx workers make up 15 percent of the overall workforce, but 31 percent of those in food preparation and service jobs.

Quality, empowered jobs are critical, but everyone must be able to compete for them.

Across all racial groups, labor force participation is highest for male-identifying people. Among female-identifying people, the gap is largest between Black and multiracial and white adults (51 and 83 percent labor force participation, respectively). Among male-identifying people, the largest gap is between Black workers (65 percent) and their white counterparts (87 percent). To ensure all people have access to quality jobs, systemic and structural changes are needed that address bias in hiring and the inequitable availability of child care, transportation, and housing.

The lack of Bay Area housing affordability is both a driver and a result of inequities in the Bay Area economy.

People of color, and especially women of color, shoulder the greatest burden of the lack of affordable housing in the Bay Area. Outrageous housing costs and unlivable wages force too many families to choose between paying rent, paying for other essential needs, or moving out of their communities. In San Francisco, more than half of renter households headed by Black women or Latina women are rent-burdened.

Many Bay Area working people face extremely long and expensive commutes resulting in less take-home pay, higher child care costs, and lower quality of life.

High housing costs in areas where jobs are most concentrated mean that low-income workers who rely on public transit have the longest average commutes in the Bay Area. About 7 percent of Black and Native American workers spend 90 minutes or more traveling to work, one way. All workers deserve access to safe and affordable transportation with a reasonable commute time. Not only are shorter commutes better for workers, they are also better for communities and the environment.

Average commute time by neighborhood, 2019

Health care access continues to look very different across races and ethnicities.

Safe and healthy working people means healthy families and thriving businesses. Yet nearly one in twelve Latinx residents in San Francisco do not have health insurance — four times the rate of their white counterparts.

For a diverse, prosperous and equitable future, our political leaders must reflect the Bay Area community.

People of color are not equitably represented in high-level elected offices, contributing to political and economic power imbalances. In San Francisco, people of color are 60 percent of the population but hold just 38 percent of high-level elected offices (evenly split between Black and Latinx leaders). Increased economic and political power in communities of color can lead to a Bay Area that works for all of us.