Policy and Promise for Low Income People in America
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POLICY AND PROMISE FOR LOW-INCOME PEOPLE IN AMERICA Racial Equity and Federal Policy john a. powell, Executive Director, The Kirwan Institute March 10. 2011
Policy and Promise for Low Income People in America
1. POLICY AND PROMISE FOR LOW-INCOME PEOPLE IN AMERICA john a.
powell, Executive Director, The Kirwan InstituteMarch 10. 2011
Racial Equity and Federal Policy
2. Overview Opportunity Matters Historic role of Federal Policy
Example Policy: Unemployment Insurance Post-Racialism or Targeted
Universalism?
3. Opportunity MattersStructural Racialization and Systems
Dynamics
4. Why do some people have access to the goodlife while others
do not?
5. Our opportunity context mattersSome people ride the Up
Others have to run up the escalator to reach Down escalator to get
there opportunity
6. Opportunity is.Racialized Spatialized Globalized In 1960,
African- marginalized people Economic American families in of color
and the very poverty were 3.8 times globalization poor have been
more likely to be spatially isolated from concentrated in high-
opportunity via Climate change poverty neighborhoods reservations,
Jim Crow, than poor whites. Appalachian mountains, ghettos, the
Credit and In 2000, they were 7.3 barrios, and the Foreclosure
crisis times more likely. culture of incarceration.
7. Its more than a matter of choice The Cumulative Impacts of
Spatial, Racial and Opportunity Segregation Segregation impacts a
number of life-opportunities Impacts on Health School Segregation
Impacts on Educational Achievement Exposure to crime; arrest
Transportation limitations and other inequitable public services
Neighborhood Job segregation Segregation Racial stigma, other
psychological impacts Impacts on community power and individual
assetsAdapted from figure by Barbara Reskin at:
http://faculty.washington.edu/reskin/
8. From a one- dimensional understanding One variable can
explain why differential outcomes. to a multi-dimensional
understanding. Structural Inequality Example: a Bird in a cage.
Examining one bar cannot explain why a bird cannot fly. But
multiple bars, arranged in specific ways, reinforce each other and
trap the bird.
9. ...to an understanding of processes and relationships
Understanding the relationships among these multiple dimensions,
and how these complex intra- actions change processes Relationships
are neither static nor discrete
10. We need to think about the ways in which the institutions
that mediate opportunity are arranged The order of the structures
The timing of the interaction between them The relationships that
exist between/among them
11. Whos to blame?11
12. Federal PolicyHistoric Examples of Federal Impact
onOpportunity
13. Historic Government Role A series of federal policies have
contributed to the disparities we see today School Policy
Suburbanization & Homeownership Urban Renewal Public Housing
Transportation
14. Redlining and Opportunity Philadelphia Mortgage Insurance
and Redlining Historic Lending and Todays Opportunity
Landscape
15. Unemployment InsuranceThe Role of Federal Policy in Racial
Equity
16. Blacks and Latinos have endured especiallyhigh unemployment
during the latest recession
17. Blacks and Latinos also are overrepresented among the
long-term unemployed (Dec 2010)2520 % of Labor Force15 % of
Unemployed % of Long-term Unemployed (5210 weeks+) 5 0 BLACKS
LATINOS ASIAN AMERICANSSource: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current
Population Survey
18. The relationship between race/ethnicityand long-term
unemployment holds over time
19. However, Blacks seem to be somewhat underrepresented and
Latinos very underrepresented among UI recipientsThere are 15
states for which we have fairly good race/ethnicity data on UI
recipients in 2009. The unemployed in these states include 2.9
million whites, 1.1 million African Americans, and 360,000 Latinos.
Recipiency rates by race/ethnicity across 15 states, 2009 45.0%
40.0% 42.8% 41.0% 35.0% 39.1% 30.0% 32.4% 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0%
5.0% 0.0% Overall White Black Latino Source: BLS Local Area
Employment Statistics and DOL Employment and Training
Administration, Characteristics of the Insured Unemployed for
Calendar Year 2009; BLS Preliminary 2009 Data on Employment Status
by State and Demographic Group
20. There is significant variation in relative recipiency rates
by race/ethnicity at the state level Recipiency rates by
race/ethnicity in most populous of the 15 states, 200970%60% White
recipiency rate Black recipiency rate50% Latino recipiency
rate40%30%20%10%0% Ohio Maryland Georgia Illinois North Carolina
Pennsylvania TennesseeSource: DOL Employment and Training
Administration, Characteristics of the Insured Unemployed for
Calendar Year 2009; BLS Preliminary 2009 Data on Employment Status
by State and Demographic Group
21. Even high income African American families can ill afford
missed paychecksSource: Institute on Assets and Social Policy, The
Racial Wealth Gap Increases Fourfold. May 2010.
22. Possible explanations: It may be that1. Blacks and Latinos
more likely to live/work in low- coverage states (geographic
distribution/bad-luck )2. Blacks and Latinos less likely to meet
state eligibility criteria (worker status issue/bad luck)3.
Disparities by race/ethnicity are not coincidental; the
Unemployment Insurance program is racialized in design and by the
role of bureaucratic discretion in its implementation4. Unemployed
Blacks/Latinos less likely to apply for UI5. Undocumented
immigrants more likely to count among the unemployed than to
receive UI benefits
23. 1. Relative to Whites, Blacks and Latino populations are
unfavorably distributed in re state UI recipiency rates
Distribution of US population by race/ethnicity and state
recipiency rates low (20%-41%), medium (41%-50%), and high
(51%-69%) in November 2009 100% 90% 27% 27% 32% 80% 33% 70% 60% 20%
37% 31% High 50% 32% Medium 40% Low 30% 53% 20% 35% 36% 38% 10% 0%
White population Black population Latino population Entire
populationSource: U.S. Census Bureau, "Estimates of the Resident
Population by Race and Hispanic Origin for the United States and
States: July 1, 2008 (SC-EST2008-04), and ProPublica, Is Your
States Unemployment System in Danger? November 2009/
http://www.propublica.org/special/is-your-states-unemployment-system-in-danger-603
24. 2. Blacks and Latinos overrepresented among unemployed
workers most likely to be ineligible Among unemployed, African
Americans less likely than whites to be job losers in 4th quarter,
2010 58% and Blacks and 64% of whites were job losers (vs. new
entrants, reentrants, etc) Blacks and Latinos disproportionately
low-income. The EPI estimated that in 2009: Blacks were 11% of the
workforce, but 18% of workers affected minimum wage increase to
$7.25/hr. Hispanics were 14% of the workforce and 19% of workers
affected by increase.
25. 3. Is UI racialized in design and through the role of
discretion in its implementation? If so, one would expect, for
example: A positive association between recipiency rates and
proportion African American and/or Latino A positive association
between wrongful denial of UI benefits and proportion Black and/or
Latino Relatively favorable results to African Americans and
Latinos in states that rely more on automation Greater denial of
African Americans and Latinos than of similarly situated White
claimants
26. Black-White Implicit Association Test Results Strong
preference for Blacks 2% Moderate preference for Blacks 4% Slight
preference for Blacks 6% Little to no preference 17% Slight
preference for Whites 16% Moderate preference for Whites 27% Strong
preference for Whites 27% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%N = 732,881
27. A few proven behavioral implications of implicit bias In
shooter game, mistakes follow clear pattern: people shoot more
unarmed blacks and fail to shoot armed whites Doctors implicit
racial attitudes unequal treatment for Latinos and Blacks compared
to Whites Resumes with white-sounding names (Emily, Greg, Jill,
Todd) receive 50% more call-backs than those with black-sounding
(Jamaal, Latoya, Tyrone, Lakesha) names. Neighborhoods with
White-only residents evaluated much more favorably than same
neighborhoods with black residents or racially mixed residents More
or less implicit bias corresponds to comfort level and body
language in interracial interactionsEmergency Treatment May Only Be
Skin Deep. Science Daily 11 Aug. 2007
28. Back to UI -- states with higher proportions of Black
Americans do also have lower coverage rates Black state population
shares x recipiency rates (2010) (Correlation = -0.40) 0.6 0.5 0.4
IUR/TUR Recipiency 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0.000 0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400
0.500 0.600 Pct. of State Population African AmericanSource:
http://www.doleta.gov/unemploy/chartbook/chartrpt.cfm
29. Same is true for Latinos, but the relation- ship is weaker
than for African Americans Latino state population shares x
recipiency rate (2010) (Correlation = -0.16) 0.6 0.5 0.4 IUR/TUR
Recipiency 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0.000 0.050 0.100 0.150 0.200 0.250 Pct.
of State Population LatinoSource:
http://www.doleta.gov/unemploy/chartbook/chartrpt.cfm
30. For Whites, the reverse is true: the greater the White
proportion, the higher the coverage rate White population shares
& recipiency rates (2010) (Correlation = 0.22) 0.600 0.500
0.400 IUR/TUR Recipiency 0.300 0.200 0.100 0.000 0.000 0.200 0.400
0.600 0.800 1.000 1.200 Pct. of State Population WhiteSource:
http://www.doleta.gov/unemploy/chartbook/chartrpt.cfm
31. The distribution of the black population nationally has not
changed dramatically between 1930 and 2000 1930 2000 31
32. State shares of Bs/Ls were positively associated with
impropermonetary denial rates, not with separation/non-separation
errors (Correlation = .27) 45% 40% Improper monetary denial rates
35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0
Percent of state population that is Black and LatinoSource: DOL
Employment and Training Administration, Benefit Accuracy
Measurement, Denied Claims Accuracy Report 2009.
http://www.ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/bam/2009/Denied_Claims_Accuracy_Rates_CY_2009.xls
33. Potential ResponsesTo possibility of racial/ethnic bias:
Make race/ethnicity data collection mandatory for all UI applicants
Conduct audit tests for bias in claims processing Reduce
bureaucratic discretion through still-greater use of automation
Offer de-biasing training
34. Potential Responses (cont.)Expanding access and speeding
transfer: Support wider state adoption of modernization reforms
Require employers to distribute UI information to displaced workers
Change the benefit calculation formula to aid low-income workers
Allow workers to bank their benefits over time