Black women & Latinas hardest hit by pandemic related job losses

The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) has revealed that four times more women than men dropped out of the US workforce last month. Furthermore, Black and Latina women continue to be the “hardest hit” by the pandemic’s resulting job losses.

Over 1.1 million workers aged 20+ dropped out of the workforce last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of the workers who left the labour force, 865,000 (80%) were women, of which 324,000 were Latinas and 58,000 Black women.

DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT

Black women and Latinas have disproportionately suffered pandemic-related job losses, confirmed NWLC. Since February 2020, women have lost nearly 5.8 million jobs – that’s around 53.9% of job losses since the start of the crisis. Although the overall unemployment rate dropped to 7.9% last month, 1 in 9 Black women and Latinas remain unemployed. In fact, the unemployment rate for Latinas increased from 10.5% in August to 11% in September.

STARK STATISTICS

NWLC believes that the overall unemployment rate probably masks even higher rates for Black women, Latinas and other minority groups. Its additional key findings reveal that:

• About 1 in 9 (11.1%) of Black women aged 20+ were unemployed in September. Although Black women’s unemployment rate dropped from 12.0% in August, it remains more than double pre-pandemic rates (4.8% in February).
• Nearly 1 in 9 (11%) Latinas aged 20+ were unemployed in September – up from 10.5% in August. That’s more than double pre-pandemic unemployment rates (4.9% back in February).
• The unemployment rates for Black women and Latinas were more than one and a half times higher than the rate for White men aged 20+.
• Nearly 1 in 6 (16.3%) women with disabilities were unemployed last month. That’s an increase of nearly 9 percentage points from February.
• Pandemic-related job losses continue to hit younger minority women particularly hard. Around 1 in 8 (12.2%) women between the ages of 20 and 24 were unemployed in September. However, unemployment rates for young Black women and Latinas in the same age group were even higher – at 18.1% and 16.5%, respectively.

The NWLC findings reiterate a concern recently revealed by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn’s research. It found that years of progress towards gender equality could be wiped out this year as 1 in 4 women are considering leaving the workforce or downshifting careers due to Covid-19, as reported.