Racial Equity and Job Quality: Causes Behind Racial Disparities and Possibilities to Address Them

The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic recession have underscored that job quality varies across workers, resulting in uneven impacts on worker health, wealth, and stability. Black and Latine workers, who disproportionately hold low-paying and “essential” jobs, were more likely to feel these negative impacts. Racial disparities in job quality are not new but are long-standing fixtures of the US labor market. This brief summarizes what we know about racial disparities in job quality and some of the causes behind them. It concludes by outlining some gaps in our knowledge and additional information and research that can help us move forward to address racial inequities in job quality.