Publications

» Publications » Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Effects of COVID-19 on Employment Disruption and Financial Precarity

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Effects of COVID-19 on Employment Disruption and Financial Precarity

Authors

Abstract

Existing studies find that COVID-19 disproportionately affected the employment and financial security of minoritized workers. However, few studies have examined the employment and financial impact of COVID-19 among different groups of older workers. Furthermore, there is limited information on how pre- and post-COVID-19 financial precarity are associated. To address these gaps, we analyzed data from the 2016 and 2018 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), as well as the 2021 HRS Perspectives on the Pandemic mail-in survey, to evaluate racial differences in the consequences of COVID-19-related job disruption and financial precarity among workers 51 and older. Results indicate that non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic workers had higher rates of COVID-19-related job disruptions than their white counterparts. Further, non-Hispanic Black older workers were more likely to have stopped work due to illness than their white counterparts. Results also show that non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic older workers experienced more post-COVID-19 financial consequences than their white counterparts. Finally, analysis of interaction terms indicated that the association between pre-COVID-19 financial precarity status and post-COVID-19 financial precarity outcomes was dependent on race. Specifically, although pre-COVID-19 financial precarity was associated with significantly higher rates of post-COVID-19 precarity for all racial groups, white older workers without pre-COVID-19 precarity were uniquely protected from post-COVID-19 precarity, whereas Black and Hispanic older workers were likely to experience relatively high rates of post-COVID-19 precarity even in the absence of pre-COVID-19 precarity.

Key Findings

  • Using data from the 2016 and 2018 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), as well as the 2021 HRS Perspectives on the Pandemic mail-in survey, we evaluated racial differences in the consequences of COVID-19-related job disruption and pre-COVID-19 financial precarity among workers 51 and older.
  • Non-Hispanic white older workers (39%) were less likely to experience a COVID-19 related job disruption than their non-Hispanic Black (45%) and Hispanic (48%) counterparts.
  • Non-Hispanic Black older workers had higher odds of reporting job disruption due to illness than their non-Hispanic white and Hispanic counterparts.
  • Among people who experienced a job disruption during COVID-19:
    • Non-Hispanic Black older workers had significantly greater odds of experiencing more post-COIVD-19 financial consequences on all measures of financial precarity (i.e., missed rent/mortgage, missed credit/debt payment, missed utility/insurance payment, could not afford medical bills, and could not buy food) and reported a higher total number of post-COVID-19 financial precarities than their non-Hispanic white counterparts.
    • Hispanic older workers had significantly greater odds of experiencing a post-COVID-19 financial precarity and experienced more total post-COVID-19 financial precarities on average compared to non-Hispanic white older workers.
  • The association between pre- and post-COVID-19 financial precarity was dependent on race and ethnicity.
    • Although pre-COVID-19 financial precarity was associated with significantly higher rates of post-COVID-19 financial precarity for all racial groups, non-Hispanic white older workers without pre-COVID-19 precarity were protected from post-COVID-19 precarity.
    • Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic older workers experienced higher rates of post-COVID-19 precarity than their white counterparts even in the absence of pre-COVID-19 precarity.

Citation

Carr, Dawn, Rebekah Carpenter, Qiuchang (Katy) Cao, Qize Chen, and Amanda Sonnega. 2023. “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Effects of COVID-19 on Employment Disruption and Financial Precarity.” Ann Arbor, MI. University of Michigan Retirement and Disability Research Center (MRDRC) Working Paper; MRDRC WP 2023-466. https://mrdrc.isr.umich.edu/publications/papers/pdf/wp466.pdf

Full Text

Download PDF

Project

Paper ID

WP 2023-466

Publication Type

Working Paper

Publication Year

2023