{"id":128115,"date":"2020-10-01T15:30:03","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T01:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=128115"},"modified":"2020-10-01T15:30:03","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T01:30:03","slug":"hawaii-industries-most-affected-by-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/10\/01\/hawaii-industries-most-affected-by-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Hawai\u02bbi workers did the pandemic affect most?"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"permanently<\/p>\n

Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> has been hit particularly hard with record-high unemployment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. While all major industries have experienced employment losses, the state\u2019s tourism and related industries have sustained the biggest blows. In its latest brief, COVID-19 and Job Loss, Who are the Workers Most Affected in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>? (PDF<\/abbr><\/small>)<\/a><\/em>, the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa Center on the Family<\/a> (COF<\/abbr>) presents data highlighting the vulnerable workforce in most affected industries by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

COF<\/abbr>‘s Hua Zan<\/strong>, Ivette Rodriguez<\/strong>, Noreen Kohl<\/strong> and Kathleen Gauci<\/strong> used data from the American Community Survey collected by the U.S.<\/abbr> Census Bureau to examine characteristics of the workforce in the most affected industries. Researchers found that the most impacted workers were those already struggling to make ends meet prior to the COVID-19 crisis, earning very-low or low wages; Filipinos are overrepresented among the lowest-wage industries (i.e., retail trade and leisure and hospitality); and young adults under 35 make up more than 4 in 10 workers in the industries most impacted.<\/p>\n

Half of the workforce in these industries have a high school diploma or less education and women make up much more than half of workers in retail trade, which has the largest share of low-wage workers. The findings further suggest that as Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> looks to rebuild its economy, it must do so with innovation and the goal of generating higher-quality jobs, not with the goal of returning to the February 2020 economy.<\/p>\n

“The pandemic crisis stands to exacerbate the economic hardship that so many of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s vulnerable workers and their families were already experiencing. Understanding this workforce is critical for identifying solutions to support them,” said Zan, an associate researcher at COF<\/abbr>. “In the brief, we highlight immediate support such as CARES<\/abbr> Act funding and policy solutions such as updating tax credits that allow low-income workers to keep more of what they earn. In the long-run, we need a diverse economy that generates more high quality jobs for Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s workers.”<\/p>\n

The research was done as part of COF<\/abbr>\u2019s Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> KIDS COUNT, which aims to provide unbiased and high-quality data and research to policymakers, child and family advocates, and other stakeholders in an effort to inform their work and advance sound policies and initiatives that support Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s children and families.<\/p>\n

\"Honolulu\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers found that the most impacted workers were those already earning very-low or low wages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[213,212,1411,1417,9],"class_list":["post-128115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-center-on-the-family","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-covid-19","tag-covid-19-research","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t