Most Blacks can’t work from home during the pandemic

(BlackmansStreet.Today) — When almost everyone is being told to work from home during this pandemic so they won’t be infected by the coronavirus or inadvertently spread the disease, fewer than 20 percent of Blacks have jobs that allow this.

The Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank, reported that 19.7 percent of blacks and 16.2 percent of Hispanics have jobs “that allow them to work from home compared with 37 percent of Asians and 31.4 percent of whites.

The Economic Policy Institute’s paper titled, “Not everybody can work from home: Black and Hispanic workers are much less likely to be able to telework,” reported that less than 30 percent of workers can work from home and the ability to work from home differs enormously by race and ethnicity.”

The paper reported that less than one in five Black workers and roughly one in six Hispanic workers are able to work from home compared with higher-wage workers who are six times as likely to be able to work from home as lower-wage workers.

“These workers who cannot work from home — particularly those in retail and hospitality — also find their jobs at risk as social distancing keeps people from engaging in their normal activities. And workers who must continue to go to work, including all health care workers on the front lines of the fight against the pandemic, are putting their health at risk.”

The paper noted that only 34.9 percent of parents in households with children can telework. “This means that not only are their jobs vulnerable, but the care of their children may be as well,” the paper reported.

This article originally published in the March 30, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.