Black, Hispanic Women Suffered The Most Pandemic-Related Job Losses

NEW JERSEY — It is known that women suffered more job losses and unemployment in the COVID shutdowns than men, but African-American and Hispanic women financially suffered the worst, a new Rutgers study finds.

The percent of New Jersey women unemployed in the pandemic peaked at 18.4 percent in April 2020, according to this April 2022 study released by the Rutgers Center for Women and Work.

"During most of the pandemic, women’s unemployment in New Jersey was higher than men’s," wrote the Rutgers economists. "Black respondents and Hispanic respondents were especially likely to indicate they were unable to work because they or their employer closed or lost business."

Also, many women were forced to drop out of the workforce and take care of their children when New Jersey schools shut down.

Nearly 10 percent of those women who dropped out of the workforce between April 2020 and December 2021 told the Rutgers researchers they had to quit their jobs to care for children — substantially more than just 2.3 percent of men.

In 2021, 23.1 percent of New Jersey households with children indicated that their childcare arrangements were disrupted due to schools being closed. New Jersey Hispanic parents experienced the highest rates of care disruption, with nearly 27 percent indicating they had a recent care disruption, the Rutgers study found.

African-American and Hispanic women were disproportionately affected by the shutdowns and job losses, compared to white women: In 2020 overall, black women in New Jersey faced an unemployment rate of nearly 15 percent. Hispanic women in New Jersey also had an especially high unemployment rate in 2020 at around 14 percent, while white women’s unemployment during the pandemic was 10 percent.

Working-age African-American mothers withdrew from the labor force at higher than average rates, the study found. White and Asian mothers were better able to stay in the labor force.

Also, industries considered "front-line" and "essential" — such as nursing, daycare, grocery store, retail and healthcare work — employ a higher share of African-American women and women of color: 21 percent of women employed in frontline industries were Black compared to just 11 percent of women employed in non-essential industries.

"These trends have occurred nationwide," wrote the Rutgers team. "Black women disproportionately lost their jobs during the pandemic for three reasons: (1) Black women’s strong attachment to the U.S. labor force; (2) Black women’s overrepresentation in the hotel/restaurant and healthcare/social services industries; and (3) Black women’s overrepresentation in low-wage occupations which were hit hard by the pandemic."

"Black women in particular have taken on multiple jobs during the pandemic, often working in frontline essential industries, and they have faced the highest unemployment rates among women in New Jersey," wrote the Rutgers researchers. "Hispanic women in the state also faced high unemployment rates and have seen their relative wages fall during the pandemic. Their wages as frontline workers are among the lowest, and they were the most likely to have experienced childcare disruptions that forced many to withdraw from the labor force."

Overall, across all races, low-income families were more hurt by the pandemic-related shutdowns than wealthier families: Among New Jersey parents who earned less than $50,000 in annual household income, 20.5 percent indicated they had to cut work hours due to a childcare disruption, and 23 percent indicated that someone left or lost their job as a result of the childcare crisis, Rutgers found.

By comparison, among households earning $100,000 or more, only 7.5 percent indicated a household member left or lost their job due to childcare disruptions.

Also, while the federal government gave Child Tax Credits, Rutgers researchers found that many of the state's poorest families did not access them or did not know they could access the tax credits: Among households making less than $25,000, just 40.7% received payments on average.