60% Of Nonprofit Workers In Santa Cruz County Need 2 Jobs

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Six in 10 nonprofit workers in Santa Cruz County work more than one job because they struggle to make ends meet, a survey of local workers found.

More than 220 employees and 30 nonprofit leaders took the survey, which was conducted by Human Care Alliance, a coalition of health and human services nonprofits in Santa Cruz County. Housing and low wages made it difficult for employees to live on a single job's salary, the survey found.

One nonprofit worker surveyed said they were living paycheck to paycheck and exhausted from working two jobs.

"Ironically, this wage inequality is contributing to the systems of poverty that nonprofits are working to alleviate," Human Care Alliance said in a press release.

Three in 10 nonprofits were not prepared to meet the state's $15 minimum wage increase by 2021 and half were not prepared to meet the $30 minimum wage for exempt employees. More than a third of nonprofits surveyed said they planned to change or reduce staffing to meet new wage requirements, and nearly a quarter said they planned to reduce services, according to the survey.

Nine in 10 agencies reported struggling to recruit qualified employees, the survey found.

Raymon Cancino, chief executive officer of Watsonville-based nonprofit Community Bridges, said in the press release that government officials failed to address the county's poverty problem.

"As nonprofits, we have limited ways to manage this growing crisis without expansion of funding," he said.

See the full survey findings here.