Impact of High Inflation Black Hispanics Native Americans | News

A significant proportion of Hispanics and Native Americans also reported serious problems during this period

For immediate release: August 8, 2022

Boston, Mass. – A new NPR/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health study shows that at a time when U.S. households are widely reporting that they are experiencing severe problems from inflation, black Americans are significantly more likely than white to report currently having serious financial problems during this period (55% to 38%, see Table 1). Black adults also report facing more severe problems in several areas than white Americans—notably, they are more likely than whites to report not having enough emergency savings to cover at least one month of expenses (58% to 36%) and have serious problems with securing food (32% vs. 21%).

In addition, a greater share of black tenants (16%) said they had been evicted or threatened with eviction in the past year than white tenants (9%, see Figure 1).

this poll Personal Experiences of Racial/Ethnic Minorities in the US in Today’s Troubled Times, was conducted from May 16 to June 13, 2022, among 4,192 American adults. The report describes findings among the five largest racial/ethnic groups in the US: 1,216 non-Hispanic white adults, 1,103 black adults, 1,066 Hispanic/Hispanic adults, 552 Asian adults, and 180 Native American adults age 18 and older. See the methodology below for more details.

“The serious problem of inflation affects black families more than many other Americans. Millions of minority households across the country face a variety of serious financial challenges during this time, including many who are at risk of eviction and face precarious conditions in their neighborhoods, with few options for assistance,” said Robert J. Blendon, co-director of the study, and Richard L. Menshell Professor of Public Health and Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Policy Analysis at the Harvard Chan School.

For the Hispanic/Latino community, Hispanics are significantly more likely than whites to report that they currently have serious financial problems during this period (48% to 38%, see Table 1) and that they do not have enough savings for an emergency cases cover at least one month of their expenses (53% to 36%), have serious problems affording food (30% vs. 21%), and have serious problems affording their mortgage or rent (26% vs. 14%).

Among the Native American community, Native Americans were significantly more likely than whites to report that they were currently experiencing serious financial problems during this period (63% to 38%, see Table 1) and that they did not have enough emergency savings to cover at least one month of their expenses (58% vs. 36%) and have serious problems with providing food (39% vs. 21%).

Given the economic diversity of the U.S. Asian population, the survey explored the experiences of lower-income U.S. Asian adults (earning

“While there are many programs aimed at helping families with food costs, there are much higher percentages of racial and ethnic minority households in the U.S. currently saying they face serious food security problems.” This is likely to have serious immediate and long-term health consequences for millions of families,” said Mary Findling, assistant director of the Public Opinion Research Program at the Harvard Chan School.

During this period when medical care was interrupted, nationally 19% of US households with serious illnesses also struggled to find timely medical care for those illnesses. Among American households where someone was seriously ill in the past year, 35% of Native American households, 24% of black households, 18% of Hispanic households, 18% of white households, and 10% of Asian households said they could not to receive medical care for serious illnesses when they need it.

Furthermore, among racial/ethnic groups in America, housing affordability and crime are currently viewed as serious neighborhood problems by a significant proportion of adults. Majorities of adults of all racial/ethnic groups (74% of Hispanics, 65% of Asians, 65% of whites, 61% of blacks, and 61% of Native Americans) say the lack of affordable housing to buy is a serious problem in their neighborhoods. It should be noted that a significant number of people in minority communities report neighborhood crime as a serious problem in today’s world. Forty percent of Native American adults, 35% of black adults, 35% of Hispanic adults, 28% of white adults and 22% of Asian adults say crime is currently a serious problem in their neighborhoods.

See the full poll results.

Methodology

The survey in this study is part of an ongoing series of studies developed by researchers from the Harvard Public Opinion Research Program (HORP) at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NPR. The research team consists of the following members at each institution.

Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health: Robert J. Blendon, professor emeritus of health policy and policy analysis and executive director of HORP; John M. Benson, Senior Scientist and Managing Director of HORP; Mary G. Findling, HORP Assistant Director; Lauren Salisbury, Assistant Professor, Health Services Research, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago; Chelsea Wheaton Pearsall, HORP Research Coordinator.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Carolyn Miller, Senior Program Officer, Research-Evaluation-Training; Jordan Rees, Director of Media Relations; Maryam Khojasteh, Program Officer, Research, Evaluation, Training.

NPR: Andrea Kissak, Senior Supervising Editor, Science Desk; Will Stone, editor, Science Desk; Marcia Davis, editor-in-chief of Race and Identity, National Desk; Jason DeRose, Senior Editor, National Bureau.

Interviews were conducted online and by telephone (cell phone and landline), May 16–June 13, 2022, among a nationally representative, probability-based sample of 4,192 adults age 18 or older in the U.S. Data collection was conducted in English and Spanish by SSRS (Glen Mills, PA), an independent research company. The study included nationally representative samples of whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans.

The sample consisted of two main components: (1) Address-Based Sampling (ABS), with respondents randomly selected from the United States Postal Service Computerized Delivery Sequence (CDS) file. Those sampled households were sent an invitation letter that included a link to complete the survey online and a toll-free number that respondents could call to complete the survey with a telephone interviewer. All respondents were sent a reminder postcard that also included a QR code that they could scan to access the survey via a smart device. Households that could be matched to telephone numbers and that had not yet completed the survey were called to attempt to complete an interview; (2) Respondents reached through the SSRS Opinion Panel and the Ipsos Knowledge Panel, two online probability-based panels that recruit respondents through address-based sampling. To represent the most difficult-to-reach populations, the address-based sample was supplemented by interviews using the Advanced Cellular Frame (ACF), a random sample of cell phone numbers. A total of 3,791 respondents completed the questionnaire online and 401 by telephone.

Possible sources of non-sampling error include non-response bias, as well as the effects of question wording and ordering. Nonresponse creates some known bias in the estimates obtained from the survey, as participation tends to vary for different population subgroups. To compensate for these known biases and variation in the probability of selection within and between households, the samples were weighted to match the population distribution based on data from the 2021 US Bureau of the Census Current Population Survey (CPS). Weight parameters include: gender, age, education level, race/ethnicity, region, and party identification.

Nicole Rura
Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health
nrura@hsph.harvard.edu
617-221-4241

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Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to train new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators and students, we work together to bring innovative ideas from the laboratory to people’s lives – not only by making scientific breakthroughs, but also by working to change individual behaviour, public policies and healthcare practices. Each year, more than 400 Harvard Chan faculty teach more than 1,000 full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online courses and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the school is recognized as America’s oldest public health professional training program.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is committed to improving health and health equity in the United States. In partnership with others, we work to develop a Culture of Health rooted in equity that gives every individual a fair and just opportunity to thrive, no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they have. For more information visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.

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