Giving Compass' Take:

• Faith Mitchel, at Urban Institute, explains how COVID-19 has worsened racial inequities in mobility, encouraging policymakers to address the increased challenges facing children of color.

• Racial inequities in upward mobility were already pronounced. How can we learn from COVID-19 to finally take a stand against the systemic exclusion of people of color from equal opportunities? What are you doing to ensure equal opportunity for children of color during the pandemic?

• Read about how college admissions offices can work to eliminate racial inequities in mobility.


In the US, people of color have long been excluded from opportunity pathways and upward mobility. Discriminatory policies and institutional practices have created deep inequities across social and economic sectors, including education, employment, political representation, health, and the justice system. These inequities have been multiplied by the COVID-19 pandemic, jeopardizing this future generation.

Black and Latino adults report high rates of family financial insecurity and hardship. In July, 64 percent of Latino adults, 57 percent of Black adults, and 55 percent of Asian adults who responded to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey said at least one member of their household had lost employment income since March 13.

Children of color have also disproportionately felt the educational effects of the pandemic, as elementary and secondary schools across the country transitioned to virtual learning. About 50 percent of Black and Latino adults and 40 percent of white adults in households with school-enrolled children responded in the Household Pulse Survey that at least one child had class cancelled because of COVID-19.

The pandemic has led to housing insecurity for many renters, but Black and Latino renters have been hit especially hard. Thirty-one percent of Black renters and 27 percent of Latino renters reported in July that they had not paid rent or had deferred payment in the previous month, and about half of Black and Latino renters expressed little to no confidence that they could pay the coming month’s rent.

Policymakers can also consider steps to reduce the pandemic’s economic effects, such as increasing protection and pay for essential workers, supporting efforts to stabilize renters, improving access to refinancing for homeowners, and establishing a federal jobs program to get people back to work and prevent extended periods of unemployment for people of color.

Read the full article about racial inequities in mobility during COVID-19 by Faith Mitchell at Urban Institute.