FEATURE STORY
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HISPANIC NETWORK MAGAZINE www.hnmagazine.com
D
espite being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, Latinos rebounded and stepped up for America during this pandemic and are poised to drive the nations eco- nomic recovery according to a recent report, The Latino Community Stepping Up for the Community and How They Will Drive America's Recovery, commissioned by the Latino Donor Collaborative (LDC). Early data on unemployment rates since the pandemic indicate they will be the driving force of economic recovery. Latinos wellbeing and successful recovery from this pandemic have great implications for a strong American economy, said Sol Trujillo, Chair, Latino Donor Collaborative.
Latinos account for a substantial share of the working age population. Their wellbeing and success are important not just for Latinos, but for all Americans."
- Sol Trujillo, Latino Donor Collaborative chair
How Latinos are Saving the Post-Pandemic Economy
pandemic, when aggressive testing, early quarantining and rigorous contact tracing was essential in containing COVID-19. Latino essential workers had to confront limited ability to work from home , workplace overcrowding, inadequate workplace protections, reliance on public transportation to get to work, lack of paid sick leave and crowded living conditions Latino-owned businesses had less cash on hand during the pandemic, and when applying for funds from the Payroll Protection Program, Latinos had their loan applications approved at half the rate of white business owners. Latinas suffered the biggest loss of jobs compared to any other cohort during the pandemic , with a decrease in employment of 24 percent. But, according states, which are states where Latinos now amount for 10-20 percent of the workforce, of the voters, and of the GDP production. Such driver states are Michigan, Wisco nsin, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Conne cticut, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Missis sippi, Ohio, Maryland, Oklahoma, Kansas and Louisiana. The pandemic created a special job class - frontline essential workers who had to carry out their job functions to keep essential ser- vices online. Many of those essential worker positions were filled with Latinos who had to work to support their families. Essential workers were most vulnerable to health risks, and many of these workers earned lower wages and were less likely to have health insurance than non-essential office workers. Throughout the pandemic, Latinos have served on the frontlines as essential workers - from the fields in the Central Valley to the corridors of our hospitals in Los Angeles and they have stepped up for all Americans. In fact, two in three undocumented workers who ile taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Number (ITIN) work in an industry deemed essential.
Early on Latinos were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
From the onset of the pandemic, Latinos were most negatively impacted by the pan- demic. In fact: Latinos were three times as likely as whites to become infected with COVID-19 and nearly twice as likely to die from it. The high number of Latinos employed as essential workers and the strong employment rebound, along with other socio-economic characteristics, contribute to the high rate of COVID-19 infection and significant death toll among Latinos . Latino essential workers were more than three times as likely than non-Latino essential workers to be uninsured (25 percent versus 8 percent) - a fact that is especially devastating during the Latinos account for a substantial share of the working age population. Paired with higher productivity rates and younger ages, they are the driver of future workforce growth and their outcomes will determine the success of the future American workforce. The report also found that Latino workers were vital to the core functions of society dur- ing the COVID-19 pandemic. Their contribu- tions are particularly significant in industries like agriculture, food processing, commercial cleaning services, health care and construc- tion. And not only in states where Latinos account for higher shares of the population (California, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida, N evada, Texas etc.), but in what we call driver
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