Researchers say COVID-19 exacerbated economic, housing, education, health and mental health inequities in Chicago. “The toll on Black and Latinx communities has been profound,” said Claire Laurier Decoteau, a co-author of the report.
The coronavirus pandemic’s disproportionate impact on Black and Latino Chicagoans prompted state and local officials to prioritize hardest hit communities, dedicating resources to testing, surveillance, health care and vaccinations, among other things, in those communities.But a new report finds that despite efforts to address racial inequities, vulnerable communities’ needs remained unmet.
“In addition, Blacks and Latinx residents have experienced more layoffs, more lost work. They tend to be more behind on their rent,” said Laurier Decoteau. Even before the pandemic, fewer Black and Latino households had net worth than Whites. In 2011, 33% of Black and 27% of Latino households had zero net worth, compared to only 15% of White households, according to the study.
“Within this pandemic, we have had so many other demics. This violence demics, the losin’ my job demic,” a Black woman from Austin told researchers. “It’s just been so many demics to add on, which causes more mental health issues.” “Businesses were given extensive federal funding and cities often rushed to reopen their economies while residents were still in crisis and struggling to cope with pandemic vulnerabilities,” said Laurier Decoteau. “Labor protections and paid sick leave were often not prioritized, which put poorer Americans at risk of infection at work.
Pandemic social assistance “really only constituted harm reduction when more extensive resource allocation was needed to offset existing structural inequalities,” said Laurier Decoteau. “Financial and housing support were offered in a reactive fashion after residents had already experienced mounting debt, job loss and financial insecurity, which often was very difficult for people to manage.”
The report found the same issues locally. While city officials worked to address health inequities across Chicago neighborhoods, many residents told researchers they still struggled to access existing resources or that their broader needs remained unmet. “Sadly, longstanding racial health disparities in Chicago and across the nation were very evident in the disproportionate impact the pandemic had on different communities. CDPH has been working to address these disparities for decades, and the City’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic focused on equity from the start, including the creation of our Racial Equity Rapid Response Team ,” CPDH said in a statement.
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