The novel coronavirus pandemic is hurting workers everywhere in record numbers, but new survey data shows this public health crisis has been devastating to Latino communities in particular. “Hispanics are more likely than Americans overall to say they or someone in their household has experienced a pay cut or lost their job because of the coronavirus outbreak,“ Pew Research Center said in new findings.
“Around half (49%) of Hispanics say they or someone in their household has taken a pay cut or lost a job—or both—because of the COVID-19 outbreak, compared with 33% of all U.S. adults,” Pew continued. In fact, “across all education levels, higher shares of Latinos than of the general public say someone in their household has lost their job, taken a pay cut or both because of the COVID-19 outbreak.”
The results mirror alarm bells from Latino groups regarding the impact this pandemic is having on Latino-owned businesses. KHON2 reports that according to Hispanic Chamber of Commerce leader Ramiro Cavazos, half of Latino-owned businesses have shut down due to the crisis, with perhaps one in four expected to stay that way. But as League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) president Domingo Garcia noted, worsening this crisis is the fact that many Latino workers may be shut out of federal relief, like stimulus checks and unemployment insurance, due to their immigration status.
Pew notes many of these workers are in industries that have been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic, and whose customers are forced to stay home: “A recent Center analysis found about 8 million Hispanic workers were employed in restaurants, hotels and other service-sector positions that are at higher risk of job loss.” Millions of others are Latinos who are housekeepers, nannies, home care aides—all domestic workers currently experiencing sudden, devastating job loss, National Domestic Workers Alliance said.
“80% of respondents with a high volume of work (more than 10 jobs per week) either had no work for the following week, or had lost at least half of their jobs for the following week,” survey data released by the organization this week said. 94% of respondents said their clients canceled on them due to novel coronavirus concerns, with 70% saying they have no idea if they’ll be able to go back to work after this crisis ends. Many are now panicking about food and housing security: 77% of respondents said they are their household’s primary breadwinner.
“For several weeks, many Hispanics have viewed the coronavirus outbreak as a major threat to their personal financial situation. The share saying this reached 68% in the Center’s latest survey (March 19-24), up from 50% who said so less than two weeks earlier (March 10-16),” Pew continued. “The next recovery package must do more for Latino communities,” the Congressional Hispanic Caucus tweeted—and that must include all communities, regardless of immigration status.