The U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus released a report last week on the economic situation among the diverse Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community.
Specifically, the report shows that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders were hit hard by the pandemic and the coronavirus recession. However, due to the American Rescue Plan and other equity-based initiatives, many groups in the AANHPI community have fully recovered from the economic crisis. The study found that the poverty rate in the AANHPI community dropped by nearly 22 percent last year.
However, it found that there are stark economic disparities within the AANHPI community, which includes approximately 50 ethnic groups that speak over 100 languages. For example, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have the highest level of income inequality of any racial group, ranging from median family incomes that are nearly twice the national median to incomes that are significantly below it. Also, poverty rates vary widely, standing at 11 percent for Asian Americans, 13 percent for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, 6 percent for Filipino Americans, and 31 percent for Micronesian Americans not from Guam.
The report also shows that while 79 percent of Taiwanese Americans and 75 percent of Indian American adults have bachelor’s degrees, just 17 percent of Laotian Americans and 24 percent of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders have a four-year college degree.
“Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate the culture and contributions of the AANHPI community to American history, to the U.S. economy, and to our shared future,” JEC Chairman Don Beyer (D-VA) said. “But we cannot overlook the ways this community continues to face barriers to economic prosperity—which were magnified by the coronavirus pandemic—and the ways inadequate aggregate data mask stark disparities in income, poverty, education, and access to health insurance. The coronavirus pandemic shed new light on the ways in which economic inequality and discrimination compound the disadvantages of many Americans, and these disparities made its impact even worse.”
The report highlights the need for more disaggregated data to better address the disparities.
“This report is incredibly important and will serve as a guide for the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) and the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), as well as AANHPI communities across the country, as we continue to navigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the following economic recession,” CAPAC Chair, Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) said. “It shows the importance of data disaggregation and that there is still work needed to be done to address disparities among AANHPI communities across the nation.”