The financial hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the economic security of all older adults, but it will hurt older Hispanics the most.
All groups over age 60 will experience significant decreases in total net wealth as a result of the current pandemic-related economic downturn, according to a recently published issue brief from NCOA and the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston. But the Hispanic population will experience the most dramatic declines.
The authors analyzed Health and Retirement Study data from 2006 to 2010 to assess the impact of the recession on 3 groups of individuals age 60 and over: Non-Hispanic whites, Non-Hispanic blacks, and Hispanics. They found that each racial/ethnic group recorded slight increases in household income from 2006 to 2010, but there were significant declines in both housing and non-housing asset values over the period.
“Hispanics fared worse than any group across all measures,” write Marc A. Cohen, Jane L. Tavares, Susan Silberman, and Lauren Popham.
Looking to the future, the researchers predict that all groups will experience significant decreases in total net wealth as a result of the current downturn. But the Hispanic population will experience the most dramatic declines.
“Their lower and relatively non-growing household income coupled with higher home-ownership rates than African Americans, make them particularly vulnerable to these economic swings,” write the authors. “Thus, compared to other groups, they will also likely have the largest increase in the proportion who fall below the (federal poverty level) after the recession.”
These negative economic impacts only tell part of the story, however. Hispanics will also be hard hit by the health aspects of the COVID-19 threat because they experience higher out-of-pocket medical expenses and more chronic conditions.
“For that reason, it is critically important to maintain a strong social safety net and ensure that people who need to access benefits are able to do so, and to undertake policies that focus on narrowing financial disparities across the racial and ethnic lines,” the authors conclude.