Black immigrant domestic workers are triply impacted by the coronavirus crisis: the illness itself, the related economic fallout and systemic racism, a new survey shows.
The survey of 800 Black immigrant house cleaners, nannies and home care workers in Massachusetts, New York City and Miami found that 70% had either lost their jobs or had their hours or pay cut since COVID-19 hit hard in March.
“Black immigrant domestic workers are at the epicenter of three converging storms — the pandemic, the resulting economic depression and structural racism,” a report summarizing the findings said.
And in New York City, which released its own preliminary data in April, COVID-19 was killing Black and Latinx people at twice the rate of white people.
For white workers, 30% had the option to work from home, compared with 16% of Latinx workers and 20% percent of Black workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
