Disproportionate Damage: How Has the Pandemic Negatively Affected Unemployment for POC?

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The COVID-19 global pandemic has increased the rate of unemployment in the United States. Its rapidly developed short-term effects have devastated our economy. The unemployment rate reached a high of 14.8% in April 2020 and has only just declined to 6% as of April 2021  (Congressional Research Service). This led many to face difficulty in receiving a sufficient food supply and enough income to pay for rent. Low-income individuals and people of color (POC) communities have been impacted disproportionately compared to other communities due to poverty and lower access to job opportunities. According to the  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “the impacts of the pandemic and the economic fallout have been widespread, but are particularly prevalent among Black, Latino,  Indigenous, and immigrant households.  These disproportionate impacts reflect harsh,  longstanding inequities — often stemming  from structural racism — in education,  employment, housing, and health care that  the current crisis is exacerbating” (Center on  

Budget and Policy Priorities 2021).  Black and Latino communities reported higher numbers of food insecurity within the time frame of March 3-15, 2021. Compared to 7% of white households reporting a lack of sufficient food, black and latino communities experienced 20% and 19% respectively. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 2021). It was also shown that households that have children are affected more than those that do not have children. They found that 15% of families with children reported not receiving sufficient food,  whereas only 8% of families without children reported not receiving a sufficient amount of food (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities  2021). This is due to insufficient income to cover both food and rent. Usually, in order to pay rent, the money available to buy food suffers and results in insufficient food to feed the family. However, in many circumstances,  there is not enough money to pay for rent or mortgage.  

Many people are having a difficult time paying for their rent due to the pandemic,  with those numbers being higher within the  POC community. “Renters of color were more likely to report that their household was not caught up on rent: 24 percent of Black renters,  21 percent of Latino renters, and 20 percent of  Asian renters said they were not caught up on rent, compared to 12 percent of white renters.  The rate was 21 percent for American Indian,  Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific  Islander, and multiracial adults taken together”  (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 2021).  Unemployment has also exacerbated these effects as it is possible that these numbers have been understated. The housing survey received low submissions from Black and  Latino individuals, so it is highly possible that these numbers are even greater (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 2021). Low paying industries that have a higher number of black and latino workers, received the most employment cuts due to the pandemic. This resulted in a larger impact of the financial crisis on these communities (Center on Budget and  Policy Priorities 2021).  

However, the new stimulus checks that were released on April 3rd came with promising unemployment benefits. During the process of deciding how much money was going to be allocated towards the stimulus, there was debate surrounding how much money was to be allocated to unemployment benefits.  The original proposed bill was $400 a week,  but after further discussion, it was decided by Congress that the new bill would only be  $300 a week (Haring 2021). This decision is unfortunate because for a lot of families the extra $100 a week would have been useful to cover the cost of rent and food. This lowering of the stimulus also occurred last minute,  which caused the stimulus checks to arrive weeks late (Haring 2021).  

Furthermore, there are various unemployment extension programs that have been approved by the stimulus bill to aid those impacted heavily by the pandemic. All of those who are unemployed qualify for 79-86 weeks worth of unemployment aid. This aid can come from various different benefits programs. The  Pandemic Unemployment Compensation will provide an additional $300 a week;  the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment  Compensation can fulfill its weekly benefits while also extending the number of weeks of benefits available to the recipient, and the  Extended Unemployment Benefits add an additional 7 or 13 weeks of extended benefits during periods of high unemployment ( Doyle  2021). There are various resources available to those unemployed; however, the future of unemployment will only be determined by the containment of this virus. As more vaccines become available, the number of people who are unemployed will continue to decrease and those who are experiencing food scarcity or rent insecurity will also decrease. Some promising information released in the most recent job report stated that around 916,000  jobs have been added. With the new addition of these jobs, POC groups and other minorities will be able to hopefully bring home more income which will bridge the gap between food scarcity and rent insecurity numbers within these groups. This reflects positively on the growth of our economy in the incoming future.  


Sources

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 2021. “Tracking the Covid-19 Recession’s effect on Food, Housing and Employment Hardships.”  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, March 24, 2021. https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/tracking-the-covid-19-reces sions-effects-on-food-housing-and 

Congressional Research Service. 2021. “Unemployment Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic: In Brief.” Congressional Research Service,  January 12, 2021 https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R46554.pdf 

Doyle,Alison. 2021. “Extended Unemployment Benefits” The Balance Careers, March 12, 2021. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/unem ployment-insurance-extended-benefit-programs-4802217 

Haring, Bruce. 2021. “Unemployment: More stimulus Checks, extended benefits could be moving forward”. Deadline, January 31,2021 https://deadline.com/2021/01/unemployment-more-stimulus-checks-extended-benefits-bernie-sanders-1234684357/ 5. Haring, Bruce. 2021. “Unemployment: There Might Be A Gap Between Benefit Periods Because Of Congress Haggling” Deadline, March 6, 2021. https://deadline.com/2021/03/unemployment-may-be-a-benefits-gap-1234708422/

Carissa Herrera

Issue III Spring 2021: Staff Writer

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