Racial and ethnic disparities in who receives unemployment benefits during COVID-19 (original) (raw)
Related papers
2020
Author(s): Ong, Paul; Gonzalez, Silvia; Pech, Chhandara; Diaz, Sonja; Ong, Jonathan; Ong, Elena; Aguilar, Julie | Abstract: This report examines the California labor force—both salary and wage earners—to identify workerswho are jobless as a result of COVID-19, and the direction and magnitude of racial/ethnic disparities.It examines the totality of the pandemic’s effect through mid-April 2020. Not all jobless individualsare properly considered in recent data on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on California’slabor force. An important distinction among COVID-19 jobless individuals is whether they receiveunemployment benefits. Since both the state and federal governments have addressed the pandemic’seconomic devastation to workers by expanding the Unemployment Insurance (“UI”) program, wecalculate the number of jobless Californians who are eligible for UI and those who are unable toreceive benefits. As officials have sought to “flatten the curve” and prevent the number of new cas...
Evaluating Ethnic Disparities In Unemployment At The Start Of The COVID-19 Pandemic
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2023
This paper first examines the pre-pandemic disparities in unemployment for Hispanic and Black workers in the US and notes some employment-related inequities amplified during the pandemic. Utilizing data from the Current Population Survey, this study confirms the differences in how the pandemic affected unemployment among Non-Hispanic White workers, Non-Hispanic Black workers, and Hispanic workers. It found that in May 2020, the unemployment rate for African Americans grew more than the White unemployment rate, and in both April and May 2020, the Hispanic unemployment rate grew by a much more considerable amount than its White counterpart. Looking at potential reasons for these differences, I evaluate three factors: regional, educational, and metropolitan area size distribution. Further regression analyses and calculations of the ethnic distributions suggest that differing regional distributions did not cause disparities in how the pandemic initially affected unemployment differently. Varying educational and metropolitan area size distributions, however, likely did.
PLOS ONE, 2022
The COVID-19 epidemic resulted in a dramatic contraction in employment in the U.S., but the effects of this contraction have been unevenly distributed. We examine differences in employment among foreign- and native-born workers by race/ethnicity during the course of the epidemic. We test individual fixed-effects models based on data from the monthly CPS panel from January 2020 to December 2021 adjusting for seasonality. Immigrant men and women experienced greater declines in employment than non-immigrants of the same race/ethnicity when both compared to native-born Whites, but their disadvantage were limited to the initial months of the epidemic. Ethnoracial and immigrant status disparities were substantially reduced by the fall of 2020, except for Hispanic immigrant men and women, who still experienced substantial employment gaps with their native-born White counterparts. Differences in family characteristics account for Hispanic immigrant women’s lower employment rates during the ...
Inequities in Employment by Race, Ethnicity, and Sector During COVID-19
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Objective To determine whether people of Color experienced disparate levels of employment loss in frontline versus nonfrontline occupations during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods The Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey data was analyzed in a cross-sectional study. Percent change in number employed was tabulated quarterly for groups by race and ethnicity (Black or African American, Asian American, or Hispanic or Latinx compared to White or non-Hispanic or Latinx) and frontline occupation status between January 1 and June 30, 2020. Two-tailed two-sample tests of proportions were used to compare groups statistically. Results More dramatic declines in number employed occurred in the Black or African American, Asian American, and Hispanic or Latinx groups. When stratified by sector, greater declines were noted in the Hispanic or Latinx and Asian American frontline, and Black or African American non-frontline groups when compared to the referent groups. Conclusions Structural racism has further affected people of Color through differential employment loss during the onset of the pandemic, both overall and by sector. However, the effect of sector varies dramatically across racial and ethnic groups. Policy Implications Because employment is an important social determinant of health and a potential risk factor for contracting COVID-19, these trends may provide important context for the prioritization of PPE and immunizations, as well as the provision of stable health insurance and income support for vulnerable workers.
The Disparities on Loss of Employment Income by US Households During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, 2021
This paper examines the role of the COVID-19 pandemic on the loss of employment income on different ethnic groups in the USA using weekly Household Pulse Survey (HPS) data from the US Census Bureau from August 19 to November 9, 2020. This study is significant for two reasons. First, it documents the loss of employment income on various households in the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic period from March 13, 2020, to November 9, 2020. Second, it examines the effect on the different ethnic groups based on demographic and socioeconomic status of these households. We specifically examine the role of income, employment, education, location, access to technology, and health insurance among the different age groups, race/ethnicity, and gender. We employ multivariate logistic regression analysis for the study. The study also employs Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition analysis to investigate the source of disparities in loss of employment income on the different racial/ethnic groups. The multivariate regression examines the effects of income, employment, education, location, health insurance, access to technology, different age groups, race/ethnicity, and gender. This method enables us to estimate the level of differences in loss of employment income outcomes among the various race/ethnic groups based on their socioeconomic status. Our a priori expectation is that loss of employment income and household income, educational status, and employment will be positively correlated. However, we have no a priori expectation of the correlation with location, race/ ethnicity, and gender. Our results show that Hispanics, Blacks, Other, and Asians experienced a loss of employment income of 35.6%, 25.3%, 31.2%, and 6.2% higher than Whites, respectively. Equally important is that 45.9%, 40.3%, and 25.2% of the differences are unexplained or attributed to discrimination for Hispanics, Other, and Blacks, respectively.
Nutrients
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in record-high unemployment rates. Black and Latino adults experienced disproportionately higher rates of unemployment. We aimed to examine associations between pandemic-related employment status change and household food insecurity among an economically diverse sample of Black and Latino adults in Illinois during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we evaluated the significance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation to determine if it modified associations. We analyzed cross-sectional data collected from 1,809 Black and Latino adults in two waves: May 2020 and June/July 2020. Participants listed their change in employment status as “lost job entirely”, “employed, but paid hours reduced”, “employed, but anticipate job lost”, or “no change”. Participants self-reported their SNAP status and completed the USDA’s six item U.S. Food Security Module to report household food security status. We used ...
The Racial Gap in Employment and Layoffs during COVID-19 in the United States: A Visualization
Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 2021
A large body of sociological research has shown that racial minorities and women experience significant disadvantages in the labor market. In this visualization, the author presents evidence from the Current Population Survey examining the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 crisis on racial and gender inequalities in employment in the United States among prime-age workers. The author shows that the white-nonwhite gap in employment increased significantly during the post-outbreak period. Results from individual fixed-effects regression models show a strong white male advantage in the likelihood of being laid off for post-outbreak months compared with women, black men, Hispanic men, and Asian men.
From recession to pandemic: Displacement among workers with disabilities from 2007 through 2021
From recession to pandemic: Displacement among workers with disabilities from 2007 through 2021, 2024
BACKGROUND: With at least one-quarter of the U.S. adult population reporting one or more disabilities in 2020, people with disabilities represent a large and diverse group of individuals who often face significant barriers in the labor market, especially job displacement-involuntary job loss due to external factors. OBJECTIVE: We examine how rates of job displacement varied for people with different types of disabilities from 2007-2021, a period that includes the 2008 Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We use data from six waves of Current Population Study Displaced Worker Supplement (CPS DWS, N = 344,729) and a series of logistic regression models to examine differences in displacement by disability status and type. RESULTS: People with disabilities were approximately twice as likely as those without disabilities to experience job displacement, but more during times of economic turmoil. Although displacement disparities by disability status were decreasing from a high of 6.5 percentage points during the Great Recession, the pandemic increased the gap to 5.8 percentage points. CONCLUSION: Involuntary job loss among people with disabilities is exacerbated by exogenous shocks. We extend work on disability and displacement, incorporating the COVID-19 pandemic in our discussion of explanations of both labor market disadvantage and precarity.
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Black and Hispanic Americans’ Work Outcomes: a Scoping Review
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
In early 2020, it was hypothesized that COVID-19 would lead to disproportionately negative health and work outcomes for Black and Hispanic adults, but sufficient data had yet been collected to fully support this claim. Now, we have empirical evidence, but little has been done to aggregate this information to fully understand its impact on these communities. Utilizing 44 articles from a scoping review of three databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Business Source Complete), this study seeks to identify the primary work-related risks that help explain Black and Hispanic adults' disparate COVID-19-related work outcomes (e.g., loss of hours, job disruption, stress). Findings illuminate four primary risks faced by Black and Hispanic workers: (1) being an essential worker, (2) type of work performed, (3) workplace factors; and (4) community and geographic factors. We conclude with policy recommendations that will help inform policy and practice for economic recovery from the pandemic for other marginalized populations.