The Role of Kinship in Racial Differences in Exposure to Unemployment

Abstract

Most studies on unemployment have assessed its individual-level costs. However, beyond its effects on individuals, unemployment incurs costs for their immedi ate families and extended kin. Close kin provide the majority of social support for unem­ployed adults. Applying demo­graphic and sta­tis­ti­cal tech­niques to offi­cial sta­tistics and using COVID-19 survey data on kinship and labor force experience, we assess the unemployment level and exposure to unemployment in the United States from a kinship perspective. The results indicate dramatic racial disparities in the number of unem­ployed kin and the num­ber of kin affected by an unem­ployed per­son. Specifically, during the pandemic-induced recession, Black Americans had 1.7 unemployed people in their extended family compared with 1.2 among Whites. Further, every job loss in a Black extended family affected approx i ma tely 23 related mem bers of the fam ily through kinship ties, compared with approximately 20 among Whites. The racial gap in the number of unemployed kin is evident in all age-groups and escalates with age. This study’s find­ings high­light the need to under­stand unem­ploy­ment and its demo­graphic impli­ca­tions, which are strat­i­fied by race.