How the Pandemic Affected Black and White Households

COVID-19 pandemic hit Black households harder than White households, even with pre-pandemic socio-economic disparities taken into account.

America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers How the Pandemic Affected Black and White Households The coronavirus pandemic has been physically, emotionally and economically difficult for everyone but it has hit some groups harder than others. Early this year, non-Hispanic Black adults (referred to as Black the rest of this story) had higher rates of economic and mental health hardship than non-Hispanic White adults (referred to as White) across several measures, according to a new analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau's experimental Household Pulse Survey (HPS). Read More Interpreting these results requires disentangling racial identity from other underlying conditions. For example, Black unemployment rates were higher than White unemployment rates even before the pandemic, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' tabulations of Current Population Survey (CPS). These labor market differences put Black working-age adults at a greater disadvantage when the pandemic began, and the unemployment rate for Black adults remained higher throughout the pandemic. Continue reading to learn more about: What explains the differences? Debt Food insufficiency Mental health Pandemic hardship by race Help us spread the word about America Counts. Share this story on social media or forward it to a friend. Share This You May Be Interested Many American Households Use Stimulus Payments to Pay Down Debt: Millions of Americans are poised to receive a third stimulus check, one of the benefits of the American Rescue Plan Act. Many have used stimulus to pay debt. Learn More About America Counts America Counts tells the stories behind the numbers in a new inviting way. It features stories on various topics such as families, housing, employment, business, education, economy, emergency preparedness, health, population, income and poverty. Contact our Public Information Office for media inquiries or interviews. Don't miss an America Counts story! Subscribe here.

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