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Black and Latino Americans are facing “terrible financial problems” due to COVID-19, health expert Robert Blendon said on Tuesday at a virtual Axios event.
Why it matters: The pandemic has hit communities of color harder than white Americans, and the population of homeless Black Americans and Latinos will only increase if there is no emergency federal aid, Brendon said.
The state of play: 72% of Latinos and 60% of Black Americans said they had serious financial problems in the household despite federal aid, according to Blendon. That’s almost double that of white Americans.
- Four in 10 Black Americans and Latinos said they didn’t have savings left.
- 25% couldn’t pay their mortgage, utilities or rent.
- “We have people who were hanging on by the fingernail when there was federal aid, and there’s no federal aid [now]. We’re about to stop the limited protection that you can’t be evicted if you can’t pay your rent or utility.”
The bottom line: Helping these communities has become politicized, Blendon said, but if politicians don't figure it out, the Black and Latino communities will suffer.