America is in a peak transitional economic moment in large part because of the contributions of the Latinx community. Since the economy is critically important to Latinxs, many question when voting: are we better off today than when Democrats took power two years ago?
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Latinxs’ economic gains over the past two decades have been damaged. However, Since Joe Biden stepped into office as President, there has been an increase in Latino job creation and small businesses around the country. With the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, many Latinxs will gain new, better jobs and better health care all around.
At the beginning of the pandemic, under Trump’s administration, 9.4 million businesses were temporarily or permanently closed, devastatingly impacting Latinx-owned companies. 4 out of 5 Latinx businesses reported a sizable negative impact from the pandemic and the economy at the time. Latinxs also faced record levels of unemployment at 18.8%. In 2020, Latinxs had the lowest rate of all racial and ethnic groups that could work from home, with only a quarter of Latinx workers available. Since this number was so low, Latinxs were at high risk of losing their job and contracting COVID-19 as they had to work without proper vaccination.
Today, under the Biden administration, Latinxs are working like never before, dropping the unemployment rate for the community to record lows. Latinxs are starting businesses faster than the national average. As a result, nearly one in four new companies in America is Latinx-owned. More than $800 billion is added to the economy annually thanks to Latinx businesses and the 3 million workers employed by these businesses.
Latinxs will also see benefits from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will create, on average, around 2 million jobs per year over the next decade. Latinxs will also get better health care due to the Affordable Care Act.
With the contributions from the Latinx community, the country is turning the corner on one of the worst economic periods in history. The answer is yes on whether Latinxs are better off today than when President Joe Biden came into office.
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