UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge

THIS CNK report examines the inequalities in access to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The analysis uses data from the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey (HPS) Phase 2 from August 19th to October 26th, when questions were added covering access to remote work, to assess the effects of remote work on employment status and the distribution of access to remote work across racial, income, and other systematic disparities.

Remote work is one aspect of the digital divide, which predates the current public-health crisis, but the findings show that the pandemic is amplifying the disparities along race and class lines. Telecommuting, which was once a relatively rare phenomenon, has become a major factor in moderating the economic impacts of novel coronavirus, such that these race and class discrepancies now have life-threatening consequences.