UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge

Released on July 22, 2020, our new report unveils the disparate economic effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Asian Americans, pointing to a critical need in expanding financial relief for all workers to counter the worsening effects of the crisis and strengthen recovery efforts.

In particular, those Asian American businesses found in urban ethnic enclaves have been found to be more deeply affected than others, as anecdotal evidence reveals the extent to which xenophobia and racial discrimination has impacted these businesses. However, there has been little empirical data to demonstrate the overall effect on the Asian American labor market.

The new analysis, in collaboration with researchers from the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and Ong & Associates, used employment and labor data for California and New York to better understand the nature, pattern and magnitude of the COVID-19 economic disruption to Asian Americans between March and May 2020.