COVID19

Publications

Publication

Towards the Other Side: Past the Pandemic and Beyond to an Equitable Recovery

  • June 21, 2021
  • Nancy Wagman

Key Takeaways

  • Massachusetts ranked #1 nationally in measures of child well-being, but the state’s successes have been uneven.
  • Even before the pandemic, poverty rates for children of color and for children in Gateway Cities were double or more than the statewide average.
  • The pandemic hit communities unevenly and made disparities more stark.
  • Federal funds will help repair the damage caused by the pandemic.
  • The state budget will be a critical tool for building beyond recovery towards true equity.
Publication

Four Ways New Jersey Can Improve Health Care Using American Rescue Plan Funds

As state budget discussions come to a close this month, New Jersey lawmakers and advocates alike should turn their attention to the ways that the American Rescue Plan (ARP) can complement the state’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget. The ARP, signed into law by President Biden in March, includes expansions to food assistance, housing support, unemployment benefits, tax credits for working families, and health coverage to ensure a full and strong recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Publication

State of Working Georgia: Pandemic Job Numbers are Improving, but Inequitably

Key Takeaways:

  • Nearly 60 percent of Georgia’s pre-pandemic labor force have turned to the unemployment safety net at some point during the last year.
  • In February 2021, unemployment claims for Black Georgians were 52 percent higher than those of all other filers, and 71 percent higher than those of white Georgians alone.
  • Hispanic and Black women have experienced at least 15 percent underemployment since the pandemic, while underemployment for Black men was 18 percent in the first quarter of 2021, more than any other group in Georgia’s workforce.

Recent historic federal stimulus packages have extended critical unemployment safety net programs, provided immediate cash aid to millions of employed and unemployed Georgians and provided state and local funding to jumpstart Georgia’s recovery. As a result, state lawmakers have an opportunity to target federal and state funding to rebuild Georgia’s economy through racial and gender equity-centered solutions that can support economic mobility for all Georgians. However, more than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, data shows how some Georgians are beginning to recover, while others have experienced little to no recovery at all.