Black Unemployment

Black Unemployment

The subject of black unemployment continues to be a critical concern, as both Blacks and Hispanics ‘ unemployment levels far surpass those seen in the general population. For example, African American employees had a higher unemployment rate nationwide in the second quarter of 2019, at 6.3%, Hispanic were at 4.8%, Asians at 3.0%, and whites at 2.8% (Wanberg, 2021). A variety of causes for this discrepancy exist. In the job market, African Americans have historically been more vulnerable. They face consistently higher unemployment rates and operate in weaker positions, with lower wages and fewer opportunities than whites. Also, they tend to work in places that are less secure than White employees do. For instance, African American employees frequently see their unemployment levels rise faster than white employees when the economy soars, and their unemployment levels often take much longer to fall when the economy is improving than is the trend for whites. This trend is often characterized as “last hired, first fired.”

Additionally, unemployed African-American workers take ages to get and secure a new job than do white employees (Wanber, 2012). They tend to face consistently higher levels of unemployment, fewer work prospects, lower wages, inadequate healthcare, and increased uncertainty in jobs. Therefore, it is paramount that the issue of unemployment in the black community be addressed.

Reasons for black unemployment

Firstly, crime is considered; although, the abuse of illicit drugs is a more concentrated and potentially dangerous aspect of the crime spectrum (Blumstein, 2002). The belief that blacks typically abuse drugs could validate in employers ‘ perceptions that blacks will not be good workers and thus lead companies to take part in employment discrimination against minorities. Previously, much has been documented regarding the extremely high rates of black crimes; Blumstein (2002) demonstrates that black prosecutions and the resulting disparities in punishment can only be accurately clarified utilizing variables of color. Arrests can thus be regarded as an iconic vector capturing cultural feelings based on in-groups (whites) vs. out-groups (African Americans). As a result, it is easier to go with a white male or female than an African American.

Second, the involvement of African Americans in sexually transmitted infections is investigated as a potential explanation for racial segregation and a higher rate of black unemployment. Workers with HIV / AIDS impose a burden that healthy workers do not inflict on managers. Employers will seek to reduce this expense by not hiring alleged HIV / AIDS workers. Besides, puritanical attitudes will fuel negative perceptions of blacks contracting AIDS and lead to the managers ‘ choice not to recruit minorities. Statistics from the Health Reports, Centers for Disease Control (2005) on the yearly number of black HIV / AIDS cases were used in the model.

A third theory, which may be called the doctrine of “white gains” suggests that black discrimination exists because it favors the dominant party. For example, any job that a Black doesn’t hold is theoretically open to a White. This view suggests that whites have everything to benefit from prejudice where the black community is the largest, and therefore assumes that in this circumstance, the highest rates of discrimination will occur.

Fourth, growing levels of immigration have reached America over the last 30 years. Lim (2001) accounts for immigrants ‘ job prosperity vis-à-vis African Americans by mentioning disparities between the two classes in material wealth. In other words, immigrants are depicted as having higher levels of enthusiasm and job interest than African Americans. Lim (2001) suggests that immigrants, generally, are not exacerbating unemployment. Moss and Tilly (2001), on the other hand, argue that several employers favor immigrants over African Americans; these perceptions would contribute to increased black unemployment. In a very new study, Lim (2001) argues that immigrant flows are associated with work losses for blacks and Hispanics and rises in black American incarceration rates. Immigrants themselves are undoubtedly contributing to the disparity in non-white unemployment levels and black unemployment. Chang and Diaz‐Veizades (1999) offer compelling evidence that African American stereotypical media representations infiltrate foreign audiences and lead to the creation of Black American detrimental views among potential U.S. emigrants. Such views automatically lead to the actions of immigrants not to employ blacks when they land in the nation.

Effects of black unemployment

Black unemployment increases crime rates. The reduction in wages and future earnings connected with forced unemployment raises the potential contributions to criminal activity. However, employees who suffer persistent unemployment have little to lose in case of detention and incarceration. When people are not lawfully able to obtain earnings to provide for their families, they can resort to crime and violent behavior (Latzer, 2018). Two-thirds of all those people involved in criminal behavior said unemployment was the central reason for their unlawful participation, while only one-tenth trusted in the cause. Often, when people resort to violence to climb out of poverty, their odds of remaining criminals increase, and a country’s political instability rises with both the proliferation of crime and violence. Education completion and access to health services are both adversely affected by high rates of crime. Considering that health and education are two key factors influencing poverty, violence causes a further downward trend after unemployment; simple economic theory indicates that unemployment is a significant determinant of violent offender output and, thus, the general crime increase. Research has indicated that a 1% decrease in the rate of unemployment can trigger a 1-2% reduction in some crimes, showing the value of recurrence employment (Latzer, 2018).

When people become unemployed, the possibility of falling to long-term unemployment is rising. The attributes of living in disadvantaged communities have been shown to build a poverty trap, as individuals do not have the necessary resources to be working. If people live in disadvantaged neighborhoods, they face inadequate infrastructure, underfunded schools, and limited useful transport links and services. Such effects reduce the likelihood of a person finding jobs again. This is also because Also since managers are suspicious of the long-term unemployed, and since unemployed employees may lose work skills with time. A Swedish report in 2008 stated that literacy skills for unemployed people fell by 5 percent over yearly (Kalsdottir, et al., 2019).

The simple, straightforward response to how black unemployment causes poverty is by lost income. With unemployment comes to a lack of money, and many individuals are left without enough money to cover living costs. It can contribute to bankruptcy from borrowing funds to cover one’s expenses, using investments or even unemployment and malnutrition when people cannot find other means of money. As people are forced to make use of savings to cover today’s expenses, their future pension funds will be cut (Latzer, 2018). This produces detrimental long-term economic impacts, such as high rates of black unemployment worldwide. Today’s black unemployment will reduce long term retirees ‘ earnings and raise the government strain. In a case study in Brazil, it was indicated that unemployment among black people puts intense stress on the household’s kids. Kids are more likely to quit school and join employment with unemployed parents. By completing the required schooling, lower levels of social capital will be acquired, which in the future would put these kids in dysfunctional working environments. These results will tend to generate poverty amongst generations. Unemployment can cause anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, and other psychological problems, particularly if a person wants employment but cannot find work. Pressure can happen, which can cause strain and stress on the body.

The economy as a whole is burdened by the increased unemployment in Black Americans, partially as it robs the market of consumer demand, the key development driver. Worse, the work and wage gap signifies a lack of human resources, which is a source of capital that is singularly valuable. It cannot be assumed that the economy is at full employment because black jobs linger behind their white peers. The community cannot be said to be just or right, either. When joblessness in Black groups is rising, both federal and state governments are paying tax reductions from unemployment. Those are not insignificant. Even in June 2017, unemployment benefits, including health insurance and Unemployment insurance for the period reached $2.96 billion (Latzer, 2018). Far more important in the U.S. national economy are the clustered effects of these enhanced benefits, which can call for the federal government to loan funds to pay for this welfare, thus postponing the expenses into the future or decrease expenditures in other ways. This is an offsetting tactic, but it can worsen a poor economic circumstance. Yale analyst Arthur Okun on the correlation between economic performance and unemployment found that a rise in unemployment of 1 % decreased America. 2% of GDP, which has a cumulative impact of over 100% (Latzer, 2018).

Solution and action plans to Black unemployment

To curb black unemployment, I encourage the government to improve jobs in the public sector. The public sector also offers Black employees a route to middle-class salaries. A rise in local and state governments’ positions by 1 percent reduces the Black unemployment level by 0.5 percent. Moreover, every $1 billion expended on Local and state employees in Cook County generates six net jobs. Thereby, improving employment in the government sector offers middle-class job opportunities for Black Americans who perhaps are more prone to falling below the poverty threshold. Secondly, there should be a rise in the ridership of public transport. The black community rate of unemployment falls by 0.1 percent, with a 1% point rise in public transit riders (Latzer, 2018). What’s more, each $1 billion spent on state government passenger transit in America creates 24 jobs per month. Growing investment in public transit networks increases accessibility, economic productivity and reduces the expenses of going to work. Third, along with the state government, I encourage the Secretary of Education to promote black education by offering grants and scholarships to increase the number of blacks with bachelor’s degrees. A well-educated group increases salaries and provides a base for mutual economic development. A rise in the proportion of Blacks with a bachelor’s degree by one percent reduces the Black-American rate of unemployment by 0.5% (Latzer, 2018). Higher education funding and lowering tuition rates to all citizens support the communities. Unequal education leads to an inadequate education for people of color, resulting in lower competition advantages in the employment market.

Therefore, the most crucial action plan is to replace the existing Foundation Rate Program in the country for financing schools with an Evidence-Based Education Funding model. The new model will increase the likelihood of African-American students achieving minimum job force or college entry qualifications. As a result, the prosperity of the Black Community in the labor market is increased.

Additionally, Black families need more resources to start with to break these ongoing workforce disparities. Capital helps families to invest more comfortably in their futures. For instance, resources can be used to fund education for students, open a business, purchase a home in a community with access to decent employment and move into new locations when there are better job prospects. Every one of these advantages provides access to much better job opportunities for the black community. Individuals with a bachelor’s degree usually have low unemployment levels, and better access to well-paid, secure jobs with excellent benefits.

Entrepreneurship isn’t going to be a magic bullet for the African American jobless issue. Businesses have difficulty succeeding in populations with high unemployment levels and lower-income levels. But although we can’t improve black enterprises without raising black employees ‘ economic output, we can’t improve African American employees ‘ financial situation without better black companies too. It is a problem of chicken-and-eggs (Sabbaghi, 2019). Yet that just means that at the same time, we need to seek to strengthen opportunities for black business owners as well as black workers. But if the country can build 1,1 million new black-owned companies, the benefits would redound not only to colored employees and business people but also to the neighborhoods in which they operate and to the country as a whole. We can no longer afford to forget the creativity, resources, and prospects these new ventures could bring to the nation.

Finally, the federal-state should enact bans against racial segregation in jobs and extend a lens of social justice to hiring practices (Sabbaghi, 2019). Also, the states and local authorities should support employers to establish strategies to consider the equality impact of hiring policies. The action plan to be taken is the creation of a Racial Equality Impact Analysis to assess how the planned job policy would likely impact various racial and ethnic groups.

References

Blumstein, T. D. (2002). Moving to suburbia: ontogenetic and evolutionary consequences of life on predator‐free islands. Journal of Biogeography. Volume29, Issue5‐6, Pages 685-692. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2002.00717.xCitations: 81

Chang, E., and J. Diaz-Veizades. Ethnic Peace in the American City: Building Community in Los Angeles and Beyond. New York: New York University Press, 1999.

Karlsdóttir, A., Cuadrado, A., Gaini, F., and Jungsberg, L. (2019). Enabling vulnerable youth in rural areas, not in education, employment, or training. Economic Geography, p. 84. DOI: 10.30689/R2019:8.1403-2503ISBN

Latzer, B. (2018). Subcultures of violence and African American crime rates. Journal of Criminal Justice. Volume 54, Pages 41-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2017.12.006

Lim, N. ‘‘On the Back of Blacks? Immigrants and the Fortunes of African Americans,’’ in Strangers at the Gates: New Immigrants in Urban America, edited by R. Waldinger. Berkley: University of California Press, 2001, 186–227.

Moss, P., and C. Tilly. Stories Employers Tell: Race, Skill, and Hiring in America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2001.

National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control. ‘‘Data Warehouse on Trends in Health and Aging; HIV/AIDS Cases by Exposure Category, Age, Race, and Ethnicity,’’ (2005). Accessed December 10, 2005. http://209.217.72.34/aging/ReportFolders/ ReportFolders.aspx.

Sabbaghi, O. (2019), “How do entrepreneurship rates vary across different races?”, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 325-341. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-02-2018-0062

Wanberg, R. C. (2012). The Individual Experience of Unemployment. Annual Review of Psychology: Vol. 63:369-396