Respect Equality

Latinos experiencing more pay cuts and job loss due to coronavirus: report

by Alexandra Kelley | Apr. 03, 2020

coronavirus COVID-19 latino community impact hard unemployment layoffs job loss wage cut pay cut hispanic latinx
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Story at a glance

  • The Pew Research Center reports that more Latinos report losing work or pay due to the coronavirus pandemic than the general population.
  • This comes just after a survey revealed Latinos’ greater concern over the coronavirus disrupting their livelihoods.

Latinos are more likely than Americans overall to report that they or someone in their household has lost their job or experienced a pay cut due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to new data from the Pew Research Center. 

The data comes from a survey conducted March 19 to 24, in which 40 percent of Latino respondents said that they or someone in their household had to take a pay cut, compared to 27 percent of all U.S. adults. 

Similarly, 29 percent of Latinos said they were laid off from work due to mandatory state closures of businesses, whereas 20 percent of U.S. adults as a whole reported experiencing layoffs under the same circumstances. 

In March, Pew Research authored a report saying that Latinos were projected to be disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic on a household financial level. 

This anxiety likely stems from Hispanic workers’ larger presence in areas the Pew Research Center defines as “higher risk” — businesses more likely to close in uncertain economic times, including retail and food and beverage establishments.

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An estimated 21 percent of Hispanic people work at businesses classified as “higher risk.”

Further analysis reveals that among Latinos aged 18-29, the youngest age bracket surveyed, 31 percent have reported layoffs, supporting reports that younger Americans overall have seen greater instances of layoffs. 

The 30 to 49 age bracket reported taking the most pay cuts, with 43 percent reporting that they are now earning less than before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This number diminishes with a college degree; Latinos with college degrees reported less pay cuts and layoffs as opposed to those who reported attaining some college education and those with a high school degree or less. 

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