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Beyond the Byline: Never forget this day of infamy

German experts defuse WWII-era bomb found in Frankfurt

Editor&rsquo;s note: This is the second of a two part series.
				WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Teri Ooms, Executive Director of the Institute of Public Policy and Economic Development at Wilkes University, said a recent study evaluates how COVID has affected unemployment and the inequities exemplified.
				&ldquo;In the part 1 of this article, we noted how COVID is affecting the region and state&rsquo;s non-white populations,&rdquo; Ooms said. &ldquo;We know that seniors with underlying conditions and with front line jobs &mdash; mostly those in low paid jobs &mdash; were victims of COVID, but we also learned that individuals of other races and those of Hispanic ethnicity were affected disproportionately.&rdquo;
				Andrew Chew Institute Senior Research & Policy Analyst, said an analysis of unemployment claims data indicates certain segments, including women, younger workers, and some minority groups, have been disproportionately impacted by job losses.
				&ldquo;There are several factors at play: the pandemic and associated business restrictions have affected industries very differently, so demographic groups that are more represented in the work forces of heavily impacted industries would face a greater burden of employment and income disruption,&rdquo; Chew said. &ldquo;Further, changes to family needs specific to the pandemic have an impact, such as the need for more parents to stay at home due to virtual education.&rdquo;
				Gender: Women have been leaving the labor force in much higher numbers than men since the pandemic began. Nationally, there are more than 2.5 million fewer women in the labor force than before the pandemic began, and the labor force participation rate for women, or the share of women working or looking for a job, fell from 57.9 percent in January 2020 to 55.6 percent in September.
				Some industries with higher concentrations of female employees, such as Retail Trade, Leisure and Hospitality, Government, and Education Services, were hardest hit with job losses. And a higher percentage of women have dropped out of the labor force, or are no longer looking for work. According to an analysis by the National Women&rsquo;s Law Center, of the nearly 1.1 million workers ages 20 and up who dropped out of the labor force between August and September, 80 percent were women.
				Chew said part of the reason for this is the pandemic has created even greater challenges for working parents, with some struggling to find child care and support their children&rsquo;s education as schools have increasingly moved to virtual learning environments.
				According to the research, due to the pay gap between men and women, in households where both parents work, it might often make more sense for women to stay home if someone needed to care for children or assist with virtual schooling. For single mothers, these challenges are likely even greater.
				In addition to taking on increased childcare responsibilities, women have also been assuming the role of caregivers for elderly parents and family members affected by the pandemic. This has contributed, in part, to the high number of women scaling back their workloads or leaving the workforce.
				An analysis of regional unemployment claims illustrates how women in the workforce have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
				In Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, women accounted for more than half (51 percent) of the nearly 90,000 initial unemployment claims filed since March, compared to 49 percent for men. This represents a dramatic shift from 2019, when women accounted for only 37 percent of initial claims filed, while men represented 63 percent of initial claims.
				Since April, women have continued to represent the majority of the continued unemployment claims filed in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.
				In early 2019 prior to the pandemic, women represented around one-third or less of continued unemployment claims filed in the region, while men accounted for the remaining two-thirds or more of continued claims. This shifted in April, when women accounted for the majority (54 percent) of continued unemployment claims.
				As the volume of continued unemployment claims in the region peaked in May at more than 56,000 claims, and then began tapering off to around 20,000 continued claims in October, women have continued to represent the majority of continued unemployment claim filers in the region.
				This sharp reversal from the pre-pandemic employment landscape illustrates the impact COVID-19 has had on working women.
				Age: Pandemic-related job losses have also disproportionately impacted younger workers. Statewide and in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, the proportion of initial unemployment claims filed since March for workers ages 16-34 have exceeded their share of claims filed in 2019.
				The largest shift has been in claims filed by workers ages 20-24. In 2019, this age group accounted for seven percent of initial unemployment claims filed statewide and in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. Between March and October of 2020, this increased to 12 percent of claims filed statewide, and 10 percent of claims filed in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. While workers under age 35 accounted for a larger share of initial unemployment claims, older workers, particularly those ages 45-64, represent a smaller share of initial claims filed since March.
				Race & ethnicity
				The latest available regional data from the U.S. Census Bureau on employment status by race and ethnicity indicates that in 2018, more than 9 in 10 workers age 16 or older in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties were White/Caucasian.
				However, white workers represent a smaller share of initial unemployment claims filed both in 2019 and since the pandemic began in March 2020 relative to their share of the total workforce in the region, accounting for around 8 in 10 claims filed.
				While the Hispanic/Latino population represented eight percent of the region&rsquo;s workforce in 2018, they accounted for a larger share of initial unemployment claims filed in 2019 (11 percent). This has increased slightly since the pandemic began, with Hispanic/Latino workers accounting for 12 percent of initial unemployment claims filed. Similarly, while Black/African American workers comprised three percent of the region&rsquo;s workforce in 2018, they accounted for a slightly larger share (5 percent) of the initial unemployment claims filed in both 2019, and since March 2020.
				Non-white workers also represent an increasing share of continued unemployment claims in the region. In Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, non-white workers accounted for 21 percent of continued employment claims in January 2020 prior to the pandemic.
				As of Oct. 17, this share has increased 32 percent of continued unemployment claims in the two counties combined. The largest shares of continued claims from non-white workers in both counties comes from Hispanic workers, who account for 19 percent of filers, and Black workers, who account for eight percent of filers. This illustrates that Hispanic and Black workers are more susceptible to job losses in the region, and this has continued during the pandemic.
				Income & remote work
				Another way inequities are present in the workforce is through disparities in remote work opportunities. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research in April found that nationwide, about 37 percent of jobs can feasibly be done at home.
				However, these jobs account for 46 percent of all wages earned from employment, indicating that jobs that can be done remotely are, on average, higher paying. In the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton metropolitan statistical area, an estimated 30 percent of jobs can be done remotely.
				However, these jobs account for 36 percent of all wages earned in the region.
				When the authors&rsquo; nationwide data is broken down by major industry group at the 2-digit NAICS level, this trend is apparent for every industry category except Educational Services and Health Care and Social Assistance.
				While not all jobs with high wages can be done at home, and not all jobs that can be done remotely have high wages or high educational requirements, it is apparent that lower income workers will have less access to remote work, and therefore be more vulnerable to job or income losses due to pandemic business restrictions and have a higher risk of infection in the course of working.
				Conclusions &
				recommendations
				Chew indicated that both statewide and nationwide data collected on COVID-19 infections and deaths so far have shown significant disparities across racial and ethnic lines. Many of these disparities are related to social determinants of health.
				A previous study by The Institute has identified on social determinants of health in the region recommended measures such as improved data collection and access, greater emphasis of social determinants in education and training of health practitioners, expanding cultural competency in healthcare settings, untangle healthcare access from employment and income, and considering systemic approaches to healthcare.
				Further, the data confirms that women, non-white workers and those in the 20-24 age group have been disproportionately affected by COVID itself and in the workplace as a result of COVID.
				&ldquo;The pandemic&rsquo;s economic impact has shifted the demographic landscape of the workforce, and has the potential to disrupt the diversity of the workforce for the long-term, particularly for women in the workforce,&rdquo; Chew said. &ldquo;However, there are steps regional leaders can take to address these challenges and focus workforce development efforts on creating opportunities for these groups that have been adversely impacted.&rdquo;
				These include creating a human-centered workforce approach that takes in account various stressors that can impact job performance and retention. This has become even more critical as workers deal with the economic, psychological and social impact of the pandemic, and working parents face increased challenges related to childcare and remote schooling of children.
				Chew said offering flexible schedules, providing resources to help workers address these challenges, and checking in with workers about their workloads and well-being can provide much needed assistance to employees. In addition, childcare initiatives and job placement services that help parents, particularly single female households, find reliable childcare, will be key to helping workers re-enter the workforce.
				Expanding access to telework opportunities could also help to bridge workforce disparities. Many jobs that can most easily be done remotely are those with a more educated, higher wage workforce, while workers in essential front-line roles often earn lower wages and disproportionately come from historically marginalized population.
				Employers should explore innovative ways to expand remote work beyond the managerial or high education workforce; this could create more parity in virus exposure risk on the job. Social service organizations and partners in the workforce development and job training and placement domain can also work to connect existing remote work opportunities to those with concerns such as childcare challenges or high-risk health factors that keep them out of the in-person workforce.
				&ldquo;Since the region is home to an increasing Hispanic population and a growing minority workforce that has been disproportionately impacted by job losses, it will also be critical to ensure equity in workforce development efforts,&rdquo; Chew said. &ldquo;Partnering with community groups and local education institutions to provide further education and professional development targeted at workers from racial or ethnic minority groups can help them develop the skills needed in our region&rsquo;s workforce and connect them to job opportunities.
				Finally, Chew said it is important that local, state, and federal agencies ensure that detailed demographic data is collected and made widely available to allow for further in-depth study of inequities both during and after the pandemic has ended. Public health data around COVID-19 as well as workforce and economic data must have allow for robust analysis of key indicators across populations to inform health, education, social services, and public policy.
				&ldquo;This data must be available in a timely manner and geographically granular to have the most impact,&rdquo; Chew said.

Study evaluates how COVID has affected unemployment and inequities