This report examines the California labor force—both salary and wage earners—to identify workerswho are jobless as a result of COVID-19, and the direction and magnitude of racial/ethnic disparities.It examines the totality of the pandemic’s effect through mid-April 2020. Not all jobless individualsare properly considered in recent data on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on California’slabor force. An important distinction among COVID-19 jobless individuals is whether they receiveunemployment benefits. Since both the state and federal governments have addressed the pandemic’seconomic devastation to workers by expanding the Unemployment Insurance (“UI”) program, wecalculate the number of jobless Californians who are eligible for UI and those who are unable toreceive benefits. As officials have sought to “flatten the curve” and prevent the number of new casesfrom overwhelming the healthcare system by limiting person-to-person interactions, restricting groupgatherings, encouraging “physical distancing,” and ordering people to “shelter-in-place,”6 policymakershave extended the UI benefit period and increased benefits to reduce risk of infection.7 Yet the relianceon UI benefits, a system that is less equipped to protect low-wage workers in the service sector, excludesundocumented workers and other vulnerable workers, including those new to the labor force andthose with low wages. As a result, millions of Californians are left further exposed to hardship during thepandemic.

This report examines the relative difficulty or ease of complying with mandates to stay home in Los Angeles County. State, local, and municipal officials are managing the spread of COVID-19 through “shelter in place” or “stay at home” orders.1 As California starts to reopen the economy by lessening restrictions to some lower-risk businesses,2 the burdens for sheltering in place adds to mounting evidence about the disparate impacts of COVID-19 on communities of color.3 For the nation’s largest jurisdiction, confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise, even as other California regions have seen a decline in the number of reported infections and deaths.4 The ability for some residents and neighborhoods to shelter in place reflects entrenched inequalities in resources, health, environment, and access to care. This report provides empirical evidence to support policies and programs that address inequities facing residents and neighborhoods unable to comply with shelter in place mandates, and provides genuine opportunity as California rebuilds in the wake of COVID-19.

A UCLA study published today found the exclusion of undocumented residents and their families from the $1,200 given to taxpayers a result of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a loss of $10 billion in potential economic output.

This report examines how statewide agencies involved in the juvenile justice system collect and report racial and ethnic data across the U.S.

LPPI examines the California labor force to identify workers who are jobless as a result of COVID-19. This report assesses these workers’ ability to access unemployment benefits, especially along racial and ethnic disparities.