1. (Why) Are African Americans and Latinos
underrepresented among UI beneficiaries?
An exploratory look
Andrew Grant-Thomas
Deputy Director, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
Annual Conference NASI- “Meeting Today's Challenges in Social Security, Health Reform, and
Unemployment Insurance
January 27-28, 2011
National Press Club, Washington DC
1

2. Blacks and Latinos have endured especially
high unemployment during the latest recession
2

3. Blacks and Latinos also are overrepresented
among the long-term unemployed (Dec 2010)
25
20
% of Labor Force
15
% of Unemployed
% of Long-term Unemployed (52
10 weeks+)
5
0
BLACKS LATINOS ASIAN AMERICANS
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey
3

4. The relationship between race/ethnicity
and long-term unemployment holds over time
4

5. However, Blacks seem to be somewhat underrepresented
and Latinos very underrepresented among UI recipients
There are 15 states for which we have fairly good race/ethnicity data on UI
recipients in 2009. The unemployed in these states include 2.9 million
whites, 1.1 million African Americans, and 360,000 Latinos.
Recipiency rates by race/
ethnicity across 15 states, 2009
45.0%
40.0% 42.8%
41.0%
35.0% 39.1%
30.0% 32.4%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
Overall White Black Latino
Source: BLS Local Area Employment Statistics and DOL Employment and Training Administration, Characteristics of the Insured
Unemployed for Calendar Year 2009; BLS Preliminary 2009 Data on Employment Status by State and Demographic Group 5

6. There is significant variation in relative
recipiency rates by race/ethnicity at the state level
Recipiency rates by race/ethnicity in
most populous of the 15 states, 2009
70%
60%
White recipiency rate
Black recipiency rate
50%
Latino recipiency rate
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Ohio Maryland Georgia Illinois North Carolina Pennsylvania Tennessee
Source: DOL Employment and Training Administration, Characteristics of the Insured Unemployed for Calendar Year 2009; BLS
Preliminary 2009 Data on Employment Status by State and Demographic Group
6

7. Underrepresentation of Blacks/Latinos in UI worrisome
because their families are very vulnerable financially
7
Insight CCED, "Social Security at 75: Building Economic Security, Closing the Racial Wealth Gap“ webinar. June 17, 2010.

8. Even “high income” African American
families can ill afford missed paychecks
8
Source: Institute on Assets and Social Policy, “The Racial Wealth Gap Increases Fourfold.” May 2010.

9. Possible explanations: It may be that…
1. Blacks and Latinos more likely to live/work in low-
coverage states (geographic distribution/bad-luck )
2. Blacks and Latinos less likely to meet state eligibility
criteria (worker status issue/bad luck)
3. Disparities by race/ethnicity are not coincidental; the
Unemployment Insurance program is “racialized” in
design and by the role of bureaucratic discretion in its
implementation
4. Unemployed Blacks/Latinos less likely to apply for UI
5. Undocumented immigrants more likely to count among
the unemployed than to receive UI benefits
9

10. 1. Relative to Whites, Blacks and Latino populations are
unfavorably distributed in re state UI recipiency rates
Distribution of US population by race/ethnicity and state recipiency rates –
low (20%-41%), medium (41%-50%), and high (51%-69%) – in November 2009
100%
90%
27% 27% 32%
80% 33%
70%
60% 20%
37%
31% High
50% 32%
Medium
40% Low
30%
53%
20% 35% 36% 38%
10%
0%
White population Black population Latino population Entire population
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "Estimates of the Resident Population by Race and Hispanic Origin for the United States and
States: July 1, 2008 (SC-EST2008-04),“ and ProPublica, “Is Your State's Unemployment System in Danger? November
2009/ http://www.propublica.org/special/is-your-states-unemployment-system-in-danger-603
10

11. 2. Blacks and Latinos overrepresented among
unemployed workers most likely to be ineligible
 Among unemployed, African Americans less likely than
whites to be “job losers” in 4th quarter, 2010
 58% and Blacks and 64% of whites were “job losers”
(vs. new entrants, reentrants, etc)
 Blacks and Latinos disproportionately low-income. The EPI
estimated that in 2009:
 Blacks were 11% of the workforce, but 18% of workers
affected minimum wage increase to $7.25/hr.
 Hispanics were 14% of the workforce and 19% of
workers affected by increase.
11

12. 3. Is UI racialized in design and through
the role of discretion in its implementation?
 If so, one would expect, for example:
 A positive association between recipiency rates
and proportion African American and/or Latino
 A positive association between wrongful denial of
UI benefits and proportion Black and/or Latino
 Relatively favorable results to African Americans
and Latinos in states that rely more on automation
 Greater denial of African Americans and Latinos
than of similarly situated White claimants
12

13. Black-White Implicit Association Test Results
Strong preference for Blacks 2%
Moderate preference for Blacks 4%
Slight preference for Blacks 6%
Little to no preference 17%
Slight preference for Whites 16%
Moderate preference for Whites 27%
Strong preference for Whites 27%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
13
N = 732,881

14. A few proven behavioral implications of implicit bias
 In “shooter game,” mistakes follow clear pattern: people shoot
more unarmed blacks and fail to shoot armed whites
 Doctors’ implicit racial attitudes  unequal treatment for
Latinos and Blacks compared to Whites
 Resumes with “white-sounding” names (Emily, Greg, Jill, Todd)
receive 50% more call-backs than those with “black-sounding”
(Jamaal, Latoya, Tyrone, Lakesha) names.
 Neighborhoods with White-only residents evaluated much more
favorably than same neighborhoods with black residents or
racially mixed residents
 More or less implicit bias corresponds to comfort level and
body language in interracial interactions
14
“Emergency Treatment May Only Be Skin Deep.” Science Daily 11 Aug. 2007

15. Back to UI -- states with higher proportions of
Black Americans do also have lower coverage rates
Black state population shares x recipiency rates (2010)
(Correlation = -0.40)
0.6
0.5
0.4
IUR/TUR Recipiency
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0.000 0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500 0.600
Pct. of State Population African American
Source: http://www.doleta.gov/unemploy/chartbook/chartrpt.cfm
15

16. Same is true for Latinos, but the relation-
ship is weaker than for African Americans
Latino state population shares x recipiency rate (2010)
(Correlation = -0.16)
0.6
0.5
0.4
IUR/TUR Recipiency
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0.000 0.050 0.100 0.150 0.200 0.250
Pct. of State Population Latino
Source: http://www.doleta.gov/unemploy/chartbook/chartrpt.cfm 16

17. For Whites, the reverse is true: the greater the
White proportion, the higher the coverage rate
White population shares & recipiency rates (2010)
(Correlation = 0.22)
0.600
0.500
0.400
IUR/TUR Recipiency
0.300
0.200
0.100
0.000
0.000 0.200 0.400 0.600 0.800 1.000 1.200
Pct. of State Population White
Source: http://www.doleta.gov/unemploy/chartbook/chartrpt.cfm
17

18. The distribution of the black population nationally has
not changed dramatically between 1930 and 2000
 1930
2000 
18

19. State shares of B’s/L’s were positively associated with improper
monetary denial rates, not with separation/non-separation errors
(Correlation = .27)
45%
40%
Improper monetary denial rates
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0
Percent of state population that is Black and Latino
Source: DOL Employment and Training Administration, Benefit Accuracy Measurement, Denied Claims Accuracy Report 2009. 19
http://www.ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/bam/2009/Denied_Claims_Accuracy_Rates_CY_2009.xls

20. Potential Responses
To possibility of racial/ethnic bias:
 Make race/ethnicity data collection mandatory
for all UI applicants
 Conduct audit tests for bias in claims
processing
 Reduce bureaucratic discretion through still-
greater use of automation
 Offer de-biasing training
20

21. Potential Responses (cont.)
Expanding access and speeding transfer:
 Support wider state adoption of modernization
reforms
 Require employers to distribute UI information
to displaced workers
 Change the benefit calculation formula to aid
low-income workers
 Allow workers to bank their benefits over time
21

22. www.race-talk.org
KirwanInstitute
on:
22