In the United States, these disparities are inextricably linked to race. It’s undeniable when you look at death rates. However, if you were looking simply at unemployment numbers, you might at first get misled. In good times and bad, the black unemployment rate is typically double the white unemployment rate, says economist Valerie Wilson, who directs the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. But if you look at the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the black unemployment rate is 16.7%, which is higher than the white unemployment rate of 14.2% but not close to double.
The closer parity between black and white unemployment numbers, Wilson says, reflects how widespread the shutdown has been. It also, however, reflects “the disproportionate representation of African Americans in what have been deemed to be essential jobs.” Think grocery cashiers, mail carriers, security guards, health aides, gas-station attendants and fast-food cooks.
Wilson says having an essential job is a “double-edged sword.” On the one hand, essential workers have greater job security, which might come in handy if unemployment benefits expire. On the other hand, these workers are on the front lines, risking their health. “People are having to choose between their economic security and their health security,” she says. Adding insult to injury, had they been laid off, these workers would have been able to stay home and collect relatively generous unemployment benefits. Instead, they have to work, and they’re often not compensated for lost hours.