COVID-19: How Failed Systems

Exacerbate Racial/Ethnic
Inequalities that Threaten Health &
Wealth
SONJA DIAZ, JD, MPP sonjadiaz@luskin.ucla.edu
FOUNDING DIRECTOR, UCLA LPPI
MARCH 19, 2021 @sonjafrancine
 COVID-19 ECONOMIC IMPACTS BY
1
RACE/ETHNICITY, JOB LOSSES
Overview

EXCLUSION FROM RELIEF & RECOVERY:

2
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

EXCLUSION FROM RELIEF & RECOVERY:

3
PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM

EXCLUSION FROM RELIEF & RECOVERY:

4
CARES ACT
 UNEQUAL RECOVERY: DECEBMER 2020 EMPLOYMENT
GAINS/LOSSES BY RACE/ETHNICITY

• Between November and

December 2020, workers of color
bore the brunt of employment
losses.
• This was especially true for Latino
workers, who lost 252k jobs,
compared to -40k for Asian
workers, -26k for Black workers.
• White workers were the only
group to experience a gain (+38k).

Bureau of Labor Statistics News Release, Tables A-2, A-3, January 8, 20202
UNEQUAL RECOVERY: JANUARY 2021 UNEMPLOYMENT
RATES BY RACE/ETHNICITY

• Between December 2020 and

January 2021, the national rate
of unemployment dropped.
• White workers, Latino workers,
& Black men experienced
decreases to their
unemployment rates.
• Yet, Asian workers experienced
an increase in unemployment
(+1% point) as did Black women
(+.1% point).
 UNEQUAL RECOVERY: FEBRUARY 2021 EMPLOYMENT
GAINS/LOSSES BY RACE/ETHNICITY

• February 2021’s jobs report notes thousands of

jobs gained.
• Yet, there exists an immense loss of jobs for
Black workers.
• Black workers experienced a loss of 164,000
jobs during this period, compared to gains for
white workers (+160k), Asian workers (161k),
and Latina/o (+264k).

Bureau of Labor Statistics News Release, Tables A-2, A-3, March 5, 2021
 LPPI Rapid Response Research

LPPI’s COVID-19 rapid response

research unveiled devastating health
& wealth impacts that
disproportionately impacted Latinos &
other communities of color. Left
unaddressed, these disparities will
transform our social fabric for
generations because of the severity of
the harm and the population
demographics that situate these
groups as key to recovery.

Paul Ong et al, Struggling to Stay Home: How COVID-19 Shelter in Place Policies Affect Los Angeles County’s Black and Latino Neighborhoods (Los Angeles: UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative), 2020, available
online.
Laura Martinez et al, COVID-19 in Vulnerable Communities: An Examination by Race & Ethnicity in Los Angeles and New York City (Los Angeles: UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative), 2020, available online.
CASE STUDY: HOW
COVID-19 RELIEF &
RECOVERY FAILS TO
ACCOUNT FOR NEEDS
OF COMMUNITIES OF
COLOR
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
LPPI research has demonstrated the fragility of our nation’s
economic system to meet the needs of non-white
communities.

To address the economic shocks and joblessness resulting

from COVID-19, state & federal government enacted a
medley of relief measures.

Yet, many of these measures, including UI benefits, exclude

vulnerable Californians who are critical to the world’s 5th
largest economy and will play an outsized role in recovery.
 27% OF ALL CALIFORNIANS WHO HAVE
EXPERIENCED A JOB LOSS DUE TO COVID-19 ARE
INELIGIBLE FOR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
California Jobless Worker Counts, January-April 2020

• Ineligible workers include workers who

quit their jobs, do not meet the
requirement earnings, exhausted UI
benefits, or were self-employed.
Undocumented workers likely
comprise a disproportionate share of
the jobless individuals due to UI
restrictions.
• In April 2020, over a quarter of jobless
individuals (unemployed and
discouraged workers) were not
covered by UI in California.

Paul Ong et al, Jobless During a Global Pandemic: The Disparate Impact of COVID-19 on Workers of Color in the World’s Fifth Largest Economy
(Los Angeles: UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative), June 11, 2020, available online.
 Unemployment: Latinos & Blacks face High Rates of
unemployment but are overrepresented among those
Ineligible for UI Benefits
California’s April 2020 Share of Jobless Individuals by UI Coverage and
by Race/Ethnicity • Black and Latino Californians are about
one and a half times more likely not to
be covered by UI than other
racial/ethnic groups.
• Latinos make up over half of jobless
individuals NOT covered by
unemployment insurance.
• In April 2020, Latino and Black
Californians had jobless rates of 22%
and 26%, respectively compared to
just 17% for white and Asian
Californians. The state jobless rate for
April 2020 was 20%.

Paul Ong et al, Jobless During a Global Pandemic: The Disparate Impact of COVID-19 on Workers of Color in the World’s Fifth Largest Economy
(Los Angeles: UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative), June 11, 2020, available online.
 Policy Recommendations:

“
Expand Access to UI Benefits & Close the UI Eligibility Gap
• Ensure every category of worker has access to UI benefits in the event of job loss, involuntary
reduction of hours, or other COVID-19 job related impact.
• Fill wage gaps for uncompensated workers who need to take leave, including those who have to
quarantine themselves, care for a family member, or are unable to perform their normal duties
because of risk of infection.
• Appropriate funds to support targeted outreach efforts to ensure all eligible workers have access
to culturally and linguistically competent information and technical assistance to successfully
apply for UI benefits.

Provide Direct Economic Recovery Funding to the Most Vulnerable

• Enact federal and state policies to fund programs that equip economically displaced persons with
job skills that are marketable during and after the COVID-19 crisis.
• Mandate the collection and analysis of demographic, geographic, and economic data to assess the
efficacy of COVID-19 related state appropriations.
• Institute equitable distribution of recovery funds whereby workers that reside in economically
vulnerable communities, including those that have historically been excluded from economic
development, are able to secure the necessary resources to ensure a robust recovery
CARES ACT
Undocumented workers and their families are at the frontlines of
the COVID-19 pandemic. Their work in essential sectors, from
agriculture to medical services, is sustaining the U.S. economy and
providing Americans with vital products and services to stay safe.

Despite their contributions, relief and economic stimulus

programs, such as the CARES Act have excluded undocumented
workers and their U.S. citizen family members.

We quantify the economic contributions of undocumented

workers to the GDP and the costs to GDP and employment that
resulted from excluding undocumented workers and their families
from relief.
Raúl Hinojosa et al, Undocumented During COVID-19: Essential for the Economy But Excluded From Relief (Los Angeles: UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative), 2020, available online.
CARES Act Individual Stimulus: Excluding Undocumented Workers and Mixed
Status Families Cost America $10 billion & 80k Jobs
Excluding residents w/o SSN from COVID-19 relief is bad for the U.S. economy.

$1 TRILLION 29% $10

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BILLION
is added to the U.S. economy by Percentage of undocumented lost from the U.S. economy because
undocumented workers. In workers nationwide who have lost undocumented immigrants were
California, this translates to $263 their jobs. excluded from CARES Act relief.
billion.

Raúl Hinojosa et al, Undocumented During COVID-19: Essential for the Economy But Excluded From Relief (Los Angeles: UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative), 2020, available online.
PAYCHECK PROTECTION
PROGRAM
Before COVID-19, Latino and Black neighborhoods in California
were already economically disadvantaged.

Initial evaluations of PPP found faults in the program’s design and

execution; yet no studies analyzed whether PPP produced or
reproduced any existing inequities along racial/ethnic lines.

This report found that the distribution of loans through PPP

widened pre-pandemic racial inequalities.

Whiter neighborhoods, which tended to be wealthier, received

larger shares of PPP funds in California.
 Paycheck Protection 32 4.9
Program: Communities of LESS JOBS IN BLACK AND LATINO
NEIGHBORHOODS
JOBS IN LATINO NEIGHBORHOODS

Color were Disadvantaged For every 100 people employed in a small

business in a white neighborhood, there
For every 100 residents, PPP loans
supported 3.2 fewer jobs in white
by Small Biz Relief were only 68 people employed in Black neighborhoods (8.1 jobs) than in Latino
and Latino neighborhoods. neighborhoods.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Latino and Black
neighborhoods had 52-55 businesses for every 100
businesses in a white neighborhood.

PPP loan distribution has significantly widened these $367 $666

disparities. PER RESIDENT IN PER RESIDENT IN WHITE
LATINO NEIGHBORHOODS
NEIGHBORHOODS
In PPP loans, Latino neighborhoods In PPP loans, white neighborhoods
Paul Ong et al, Distribution of Paycheck Protection Program Funds Between Majority-White received $367 per resident. received $666 per resident.
Neighborhoods and Neighborhoods of Color in California (Los Angeles: UCLA Latino Policy &
Politics Initiative), 2020, available online.
 Spatial Disparities: White Communities
Received more PPP $

Paul Ong et al, Struggling to Stay Home: How COVID-19 Shelter in Place Policies Affect Los Angeles County’s Black and Latino Neighborhoods (Los Angeles: UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative), 2020,
available online.
https://latino.ucla.edu/research/maps-disparities-in-the-distribution-of-the-paycheck-protection-program/
 Interactive Map: Disparities in PPP

This interactive map shows how

loans from the paycheck
protection program (PPP) were
distributed across neighborhoods
in California. You can select and
unselect three layers to see one of
these three indicators:

• PPP dollars per 100 residents in

the neighborhood
• Jobs retained through PPP loans
per 100 residents in the
neighborhood
• Neighborhoods where a racial or
ethnic group accounts for at
least 60% of the population

https://latino.ucla.edu/research/maps-disparities-in-the-distribution-of-the-paycheck-protection-program/
The image part with relationship ID rId2
was not found in the file.

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