That is only part of the solution. Higher pay doesn't do much good if the essentials of life cost even more. The biggest problem is the cost of housing. As young professionals, my parents bought their first home for the equivalent of one year's salary. As a more experienced attorney, my home cost me three times my much higher salary. Now the same home would cost me 8 to 10 times my even higher salary. Your estimate of $1500 rent simply cannot be found in Los Angeles. So several families of working people must crowd into small units, just to survive. This, in turn, is one of the reasons for the high COVID rates here.

https://qcp.medium.com/systemic-racism-is-a-question-not-an-answer-eaef548e170c