New Census Confirms LGBTQ Hardships

The U.S. Census Bureau has released data on our LGBTQ households experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic which showed that LGBTQ households were nearly twice as likely to experience food insecurity & were also more likely to experience financial insecurity, lost income & difficulties making housing payments. Jay Brown, Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President of Programs, Research & Training stated, “The Census Bureau’s new data only continues to highlight what we have long known—LGBTQ+ Americans disproportionately bear the brunt of economic hardships from food insecurity to unemployment. This disparity is further fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the LGBTQ+ community is more likely to work in front-line service jobs, have their hours cut & face housing & employment discrimination.” Overall about 13.1% of LGBTQ adults live in a household where there was sometimes or often not enough to eat in the past seven days compared to 7.2% of non-LGBTQ adults. 36.6% of LGBTQ adults live in a household that had difficulty paying for usual household expenses in the previous seven days, compared to 26.1% of non-LGBTQ adults.19.8% of LGBTQ adults live in a household with lost employment income in the past four weeks compared to 16.8% of non-LGBTQ adults. Among those living in homes that were rented or owned with a mortgage or loan 8.2% of LGBTQ adults said they were not at all confident that their household will be able to make their next housing payment on time compared to 6% of non-LGBTQ adults. Also especially LGBTQ people of color have been more likely than the general adult population & their white counterparts to have become unemployed during the pandemic & more than half of transgender & transgender people of color had lost work hours in the Summer of 2020 while one in five became unemployed. For More Info…