brunt

As the COVID-19 pandemic worsened in April, many Americans were shocked by the extent that black Americans were being disproportionately impacted: higher infection rates, more deaths and greater job loss. But many black Americans were not surprised. This is not new. The same dynamic has been going on at times of crisis for decades and generations. As a labor economist and former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor under the Clinton administration, I know that history has shown that black Americans consistently bear the brunt of recessions and natural disasters. Economic history repeating itself Prior to this pandemic, the worst economic downturns in post-World War II America were the 1981-82 recession and the Great Recession that followed the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Duri...

Income inequality has increased dramatically in the United States over recent decades, surpassing its previous peak in the 1920s. In 2016, the average income among the bottom 24.9 million households was US$21,000. Meanwhile, the top 1%, or 1.2 million households, earned an average household income of $1.8 million. These disparities have spurred social movements and become a central issue for some candidates in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. However, much of the attention has focused on inequality across the entire U.S. population, regardless of where individuals live. Our research and other studies show that levels of income inequality within counties and cities vary considerably across the country. Challenges in rural areas Our work focuses specifically on differences in inc...

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Black Americans are bearing the brunt of coronavirus recession – this should come as no surprise

Low-income Americans have borne the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic. They may also get left behind in the recovery.