On Wednesday UCLA released a report that demonstrated the disparate impact COVID-19 has had on the Asian American labor force, according to the UCLA Newsroom.
The report notes that anecdotal evidence suggests that Asian American businesses were hit earlier and harder by the pandemic due because of the increase in xenophobia and racial discrimination. NBC News reported that Asian American businesses, several of which were located in Chinatowns, had seen a drop in business long before stay-at-home orders were issued.
ABC News reported that Asian Americans living in New York state had seen a 10,210% year-over-year increase in unemployment filings, the highest among any racial group.
The UCLA report provides further empirical evidence that COVID-19 has taken a toll on the Asian American workforce. It found that Asian Americans have experienced higher rates of joblessness and unemployment than whites during the pandemic. By May 2020 the unemployment rate for Asians was 15 percent and the jobless rate was 21 percent, compared with 12 percent and 16 percent for whites. Before the pandemic, the rates were nearly identical.
The pandemic has had an immense impact on marginalized and disadvantaged Asian Americans. The report found that in California, 83 percent of the Asian American workforce with a high school education or less filed for unemployment. Only 37 percent of California’s labor force with similar education levels filed for unemployment.
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The report examined small business closures from February to April and estimated that Asian American small businesses have seen a 28 percent decline whereas non-Hispanic white businesses have seen a 17 percent decline.
The authors of the report also outlined a number of policy recommendations to help provide economic relief to marginalized and low-income Asian Americans. According to UCLA Newsroom, they include:
- Enact federal policy to extend unemployment benefits and small business assistance, such as the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance program from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
- Enact additional state policies that provide benefits to marginalized populations least likely to receive unemployment benefits through the CARES Act.
- Enact additional policies to assist small businesses, including the so-called resiliency funds established by some local governments.
- Increase efforts to ensure marginalized populations take advantage of governmental, private and philanthropic resources to help people weather the financial hardships of COVID-19.
- Enact federal and state polices and fund programs to equip economically displaced people with job skills that are marketable during and after the COVID-19 crisis.
“We need to invest in all workers to ensure a robust recovery,” the report states.
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