More than half of LA residents have lost jobs but only 25% have received unemployment benefits, claims study
Nearly 22 million Americans have already filed for unemployment benefits according to reports. However, a University of Southern California, Dornsife (USC Dornsife) study suggests that the count could end up being much higher.
CNN reported last week that 5.2 million Americans filed for unemployment over the last week alone, raising the total number of job losses to roughly 22 million and nearly erasing the 24 million jobs created since the Great Recession of 2007-2009.
A survey by the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) of nearly 5,500 residents of the United States estimates that an estimated 25.5 million jobs have been lost in the country since mid-March. The study also noted that Americans are experiencing greater economic insecurity, limited access to unemployment benefits and increased psychological distress.
The latest survey was conducted between April 1 and 14 and compared findings from a similar survey conducted between March 10 and 31.
According to USC Dornsife, survey director Jill Darline stated, “Because our panel members fill out questions in the tracking survey on a daily basis, we are able to pick up any changes in behavior or attitudes that may occur as a result of the pandemic. Since the same people respond to each wave of the survey, we can detect real shifts in the impact the pandemic is having on people’s financial and personal lives.”
It was noted that financial and mental health challenges were more disproportionately felt by people of color, women, and those with lower levels of education, with Los Angeles County residents, often reporting greater difficulties than the national average.
The survey showed a continuing loss of jobs in the country since March. Two-thirds of job losses were reported as temporary layoffs. 52 percent of residents still held a job nationally, while in Los Angeles, the figure was roughly 45 percent. African-Americans and other people of color are most likely to have lost their jobs — 21 percent of African-Americans and 18 percent of Latinos reported they had lost their jobs, compared to 15% of whites. Meanwhile, 17 percent of women reported losing jobs compared to just 14 percent of men.
The study also noted that only 36 percent of the recently unemployed have received unemployment benefits since mid-March, with the figure being less than 25 percent in Los Angeles. Again, the lack of access to unemployment benefits is more pronounced among African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and other people of color.
More people are worried about losing their jobs and running out of money. Nationally, people estimate their chance of running out of money within the next three months at 22%, and people who currently have a job estimate their chance of job loss in the next three months at 15%. In LA County, those same measures jump to 33% and 22%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the pandemic is also shown to be taking a higher toll on mental health. “In the face of the pandemic, longstanding social and economic disparities and limited social protections have left large swaths of our population vulnerable to greater psychological and economic hardship,” said Kyla Thomas, a sociologist at CESR and a member of the survey team.
Roughly 40% of the national population reported mild to severe symptoms of depression or anxiety, with Latinos and Asians reporting the greatest increases in mental health issues. Moreover, younger adults between the ages of 18 and 34 were the most likely to suffer from psychological distress. They were also the most likely to believe they were going to lose their jobs and run out of money within the next three months.
Mental health issues increased considerably among women, from 34% in March to 45% in the April survey. Men experienced a smaller increase, from 25% to 33%.