“Rebounding Economy” Narrative Leaving Behind Asian American and Pacific Islander Women
by Kevin Phan and Kevin Quach, OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates
The global COVID-19 pandemic has left the United States in a situation of economic instability with disproportionate impacts targeting Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and other women of color. COVID-19 has also worsened the pre-existing socioeconomic, racial, and gender barriers that women of color already face — including wage gaps, household labor burdens, and unemployment disparities. Despite the circulative narrative of the nation’s recovery, public discourse currently overlooks the priority need to provide financial assistance and healthcare to women of color. Already-passed legislation has not done enough for women of color — the Senate must pass the HEROES Act immediately.
Some research documents that Asian American women earn the highest wages among all women. However, data broken down by ethnicity reveals significant wage gaps among Southeast Asian, South Asian, and Pacific Islander women. Nepalese, Burmese, Fijian, and Cambodian women, for example, typically earn less than 60% of white men’s earnings. These wage gaps are complicated by the dual role that many AAPI working women have as mothers. Many households rely on Asian American and Pacific Islander mothers to provide income for their families. In 2014, 44.2% of Asian American and Pacific Islander women provided at least 40% of their family’s income with mothers of low-income families being more likely to be the sole breadwinner in their households. Worse even, some household incomes have been lost entirely as AAPI women have faced pandemic-fueled layoffs. Nearly 60% of jobs lost in March and 55% lost in April were held by women, and although overall employment has somewhat improved in the past few weeks, those gains have not been felt by Asian Americans, whose unemployment rate has actually risen from 14.5% in April to 15% in May.
With the female workforce comprising 52% of all essential workers in the U.S., 77% of all healthcare workers, and 94% of all caretaking roles, women face a higher risk for contracting COVID-19 and are forced to balance the high costs of maintaining their health. In some regions, risks are even more concentrated among AAPI women. For example, although roughly 4% of all U.S. nurses are Filipino, California has a higher proportion of Filipino nurses (20%), all of whom are at the frontlines providing care for COVID-19 patients. 70,000 of these nurses are undocumented and inelligible for financial relief. More broadly, essential workers are more likely to live below the federal poverty line, have children at home, and live with others working in front-line jobs. These factors contribute to compromising the health of themselves and loved ones. Women of color also disproportionately work low-wage jobs with limited access to health benefits and paid sick leave. Thus, women of color are facing unprecedented economic pressures and safety threats without the financial and health protections we all require.
As states across the country allow personal service businesses (such as nail and beauty salons) to reopen, many women and women of color in these industries are also returning to work with a greater risk of contracting COVID-19. AAPI women make up 42% of the nail salon industry, which is categorized as a medium exposure risk line of work for COVID-19. In spite of the danger, AAPI women put themselves at risk as they depend on their jobs to support themselves and their families. Disproportionately, nail salon workers are also often victims of unfair wages and even wage theft as bosses exploit contracted and undocumented workers, respectively. This forces employees to work longer hours to make up for lost wages. Due to hazardous chemicals in the workplace, nail technicians are also susceptible to negative “long-term occupational health conditions”. In tandem with the current pandemic, these AAPI women nail salon workers face more health concerns, as many cannot adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) nail technician guidelines due to the scarcity of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). As a consequence, AAPI women in nail salons are at a higher risk for contracting COVID-19. The Senate and the Department of Labor just recognize these risks and prioritize the health of these communities.
The policy changes sought by AAPI working women will also be restorative to the many women of color who are also unemployed or underemployed. There is an unemployment rate of 13.9% for adult women compared to the men’s 11.6%, and women of color are suffering from even higher unemployment rates. Compared to the total women’s unemployment rate of 13.9%, 16.4% of Black women were unemployed and almost 19.0% of Latinas were unemployed in April. The pandemic has hurt many industries but especially hospitality, service, and retail. All three of these markets disproportionately hire Black women and Latinas, attributing to the higher unemployment rates for these populations. Even with unemployment rates decreasing slightly for these communities, women of color are still confronting disproportionate employment disparities. The dominant narrative of national recovery refuses to address the disparate issues facing AAPI women and other women of color. Passing the HEROES Act is the most immediate way for the Senate to remedy these health, safety, and employment crises. Addressing the health risks and high unemployment rates being currently faced by women of color require those in power to take the necessary measures laid out in the HEROES Act stimulus.
Kevin Phan is the Communications intern for OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates and Kevin Quach is the Policy intern for OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates. They are both members of the OCA 2020 Summer Internship cohort. For more information on them, please visit the “Meet the Interns” page.
