The Great Recession and the pandemic recession hit low-income families of color especially hard—pushing many into unemployment, poverty, and housing insecurity, according to a new Economic Policy Institute report. As the Trump administration’s economic policies sow chaos and uncertainty, low-income families of color with children remain disproportionately vulnerable to even more economic insecurity as economic growth wanes this year and fears of a recession rise.  

There are 9.7 million families in the U.S. who are low income—defined as those with a household income below 200% of the federal poverty line. While Black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN), and Asian American or Pacific Islander (AAPI) families collectively account for 44.4% of all families with children, they represent 61.1% of economically vulnerable families with children. These families are also more likely to have a disabled parent or child and to be headed by women and immigrants. 

Given the weak policy response to the Great Recession, it took economically vulnerable families of color nearly a decade to recover in nearly all the economic domains examined, including employment, poverty status, and housing insecurity. While the bold response to the pandemic recession led to a relatively faster rebound in employment, more low-income Black (85.1%) and Hispanic (83.0%) families struggle with housing insecurity than they did before the Great Recession.  

Recent actions taken by the Trump administration and Congress will create even worse conditions for low-income families. This summer, Congress passed one of the most severe reductions in the welfare state in U.S. history, slashing over $1 trillion in spending on Medicaid and food stamps and eliminating crucial sources of government support. To make matters worse, the chaos that the Trump administration has unleashed has curtailed economic growth and may lead to a recession, which will cause more hardship for these families.  

“The Trump administration is proudly advancing an economic agenda that forces austerity on low-income families, strips away protection from discrimination for people of color, and offers more tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. This economic agenda will push even more families into poverty and prolong the pain that follows a recession,” said Ismael Cid-Martinez, EPI economist and co-author of the report.