Black male joblessness crisis costs Black community billions
18th January 2022 · 0 Comments
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
A new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, titled “The Jobs Crisis for Black Men is a Lot Worse Than You Think,” found the joblessness crisis for Black men costs Black communities billions of dollars.
According to stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2020, the unemployment rate for Black men in Louisiana was 13 percent. The rate for white men in Louisiana was 6.9 percent. For Black people as a whole, the rate was 11.5 percent, and the overall rate for white people was 6.8 percent. The rate for Latino men was 7.7 percent and the rate for Latino people as a whole was 9.6 percent. The unemployment rate for Asians was 7.2 percent (no data breakdown was available by gender for Asians).
But the report’s authors stated that the official BLS stats do not tell the whole story of Black male unemployment. Even if the statistics are accepted at face value, Black men have consistently had the highest annual unemployment rate for approximately the last 20 years.
“We are missing most of Black men’s joblessness when we only look at the unemployment rate. Most jobless Black men are not counted in the official unemployment statistics,” said Algernon Austin, co-writer of the report and the director of race and economic justice at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The report estimates the white-Black employment-to-population (EPOP) ratio is about three times the unemployment rate jobs gap during a period of moderately high unemployment. The report estimates that closing the EPOP jobs gap would add approximately $30 billion annually to Black communities, significantly reducing Black poverty.
Official labor market statistics do not account for Black men who are incarcerated. About 60 percent of incarcerated men work while in prison, but it does not count as real employment because it does not provide a significant income. The Prison Policy initiative found the highest average hourly wage for prisoners was $1.41. This average is less than 20 percent lower than the federal minimum wage. In Louisiana, the highest pay rate for the incarcerated was $1 per hour. Some prisoners can also be required to work for no pay. But even those who make money can see their wages garnished to pay for criminal-justice fees.
The statistics also do not address the economic impact of higher mortality rates for Black men. According to 2014 data, the Black male mortality rate (under age 55) is 103.4 points above the Black female rate. The white male rate for the same age group is only 73.9 points above the white female rate. When prime-age Black men are incarcerated or die, their children, partners and family members suffer economically.
“If we try to do a full accounting, Black communities are losing about $50 billion a year because of the very high rate of joblessness among Black men. We need to address societal structures of racial inequality to solve this problem,” said Austin.
The report cited a quote from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on societal racism and discrimination. It read “…centuries of racism in this country has had a profound and negative impact on communities of color. The impact is pervasive and deeply embedded in our society – affecting where one lives, learns, works, worships and plays and creating inequities in access to a range of social and economic benefits – such as housing, education, wealth, and employment. These conditions – often referred to as social determinants of health – are key drivers of health inequities within communities of color, placing those within these populations at greater risk for poor health outcomes.”
When asked for solutions to the problems posed in the report, Austin said laws against anti-Black discrimination must be more aggressively enforced. He also said strong affirmative action policies are needed.
“Given that most employers are white, these tendencies disadvantage Black job applicants. By ensuring that employers advertise and look beyond their networks, affirmative action helps counteract these biases,” Austin said.
Lastly, Austin recommended the government use subsidized job programs like President Franklin D. Roosevelt used during the Great Depression with the Works Progress Administration. These programs would be beneficial to all, not just Black workers.
“There are several models of subsidized jobs programs that could be used to create jobs in these depressed communities as well as for similarly depressed Native American communities, white Appalachian communities and Latino communities,” Austin said.
The CEPR’s full report can be read at www.cepr.net/report/the-jobs-crisis-for-black-men-is-a-lot-worse-than-you-think.
This article originally published in the January 17, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
