Unlike unemployment rates, homeownership and wealth never fully rebounded in these communities.Įxperts believe that occupational segregation, financial exploitation, and exclusion from federal programs increased the length and severity of the Great Recession in communities of color. Today, the ratio of median Black and Hispanic household wealth to median white household wealth is just 9.5 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively. By contrast, white households lost 24 percent of their wealth during this period. From 2007 to 2016, Black and Hispanic households lost 48 percent and 36 percent of their wealth, respectively. Hispanic and Black families also endured the highest rates of foreclosure and lost the most wealth during this period. Hispanic, Black, and Native American unemployment rates did not reach their pre-recession lows until 2017. But it soared even higher in communities of color: 16.8 percent for Black workers, 15.1 percent for American Indian and Alaska Native workers, and 13 percent for Hispanic workers-levels not seen nationally since the Great Depression. unemployment peaked at 10 percent during the Great Recession. Few communities were spared the effects of the Great Recession, but communities of color experienced the worst effects-and some never fully recovered. Millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes, and household wealth plunged. It is critical that lawmakers ensure a robust and equitable recovery by taking targeted and concrete steps to minimize inequality, remove entrenched structural racism, and promote economic fairness for all.Įconomic downturns and people of color: Lessons from the Great Recessionįrom December 2007 to June 2009, the United States experienced one of the longest and most severe economic downturns in living memory. Today, new calls for a massive recovery and an urban revitalization plan evoke both hope and apprehension in communities of color. Some of the boldest universal policies of the 20th century contained explicitly or implicitly discriminatory provisions that prevented people of color from obtaining the full benefits to which they were entitled. And as policymakers continue to pass policies and institute new practices, it’s important that they avoid repeating the mistakes of their predecessors. The coronavirus does not discriminate based on race, but without immediate action, its economic fallout will disproportionately affect communities of color.īecause social distancing is necessary to protect overall public health, federal and state governments must make it financially possible for people to stay home by expanding economic assistance programs, easing debt burdens, and protecting against predatory lending and employment discrimination. These factors put people of color at greater risk of unemployment and limit their ability to weather economic downturns. Nowhere are the effects of this current emergency more acute than in communities of color, which have long endured occupational segregation, economic exploitation, and employment discrimination. These public health measures are essential, but they come at a cost: Millions of Americans have now lost their jobs, and countless businesses are predicting diminished revenues and experiencing profound financial uncertainty. In recent weeks, public officials have closed schools, shuttered businesses, and restricted mobility in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus, which as of April 14 has killed more than 23,500 Americans and infected hundreds of thousands more. The United States is in the midst of a major economic disaster.
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