Food scarcity and concerns about making rent remain high, according to a Census Bureau survey that found those struggles sometimes hitting black and Hispanic communities twice as hard.
About 40 percent of African American households with children reported in May that they don’t always have enough to eat, according to the Census Bureau’s new Household Pulse survey, which has been measuring the pandemic’s impact. That’s double the 20 percent of white households that reported not having enough food.
The data shows a huge spike in food insecurity from the days before the pandemic started, noted economist and Northwestern University professor Diane Schanzenbach. That’s rolled up in a continuing economic crisis where unemployment sits at 13 percent overall but is several points higher among minority groups, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“One of the ways to make this recession as short-lived as possible is smart policy from Congress,” Schanzenbach said. “We’re concerned they are going to take their foot off the gas pedal too early.”