The U.S. poverty rate has surged over the past five months, with 7.8 million Americans falling into poverty, the latest indication of how deeply many are struggling after government aid dwindled. The poverty rate jumped to 11.7 percent in November, up 2.4 percentage points since June, according to new data released Wednesday by researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Notre Dame. Read more.

The current recession has had a disproportionate impact on lower-wage jobs and the workers who hold them. Because workers of color and women are overrepresented in the nation’s lower-wage economy, this recession has the potential to impact some groups of workers more severely than others.

Focusing on Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, this new research explores recent changes in employment by residents’ education, race, ethnicity, and gender. Overall, the employment rate — or the share of working-age residents employed — fell by roughly 8 percentage points between May 2019–October 2019 and the same period in 2020, from 76.5 percent to 68.4 percent. Employment rate declines approached or exceeded 20 percentage points for three groups of workers with no more than a high school diploma: Black men, Black women, and Hispanic women. White men, regardless of their educational attainment, experienced much more modest declines, as did both Hispanic men and White women with at least some college education. The underlying drivers of these uneven outcomes, including the potential roles played by occupational segregation, labor market discrimination, and access to affordable, high-quality childcare, should be explored in order to ensure the economic recovery is not only full but also equitable.

This report is the latest in our Equity in Recovery series, which looks at the workers, small businesses, and places most affected by economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. For additional resources on COVID-19 and the economy, visit our website.

By Fred Ullrich, BA and Keith Mueller, PhD

 With the authorization of vaccines for COVID-19, plans for administering those vaccinations across the United States are being implemented. The Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with 19 “large chain pharmacies and networks that represent independent pharmacies and regional chains” to administer the vaccine. As extensive as that network of pharmacy providers is, it does not include a number of nonmetropolitan counties. This brief uses data from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs to identify counties where there are no pharmacies capable of providing vaccination services.

Over 100 nonmetropolitan counties (n=110) with a total population of 263,007 people have no pharmacy. A much larger number of counties (n=750) do not have a retail pharmacy directly affiliated with one of the 19 HHS ‘partner’ chains/networks. An unidentifiable number of pharmacies have a third party contracting group arrangement with one of the partners and so the number of counties without a ‘partner pharmacy’ is likely lower. If pharmacies indicating that they currently provide immunization service are added to the list of identified partner pharmacies, there are still 326 nonmetropolitan counties (total population over 1.5 million people) with no pharmacy providing immunization service.

Please click here to read the brief.

The National Governors Association released a report highlighting policy issues that states may consider when deciding which COVID-19-related telehealth flexibilities should remain permanent. The webinar was produced through HRSA’s cooperative agreement with National Organizations of State and Local Officials.

Read The Future of State Telehealth Policy.