What is Giving Compass?
We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us.
Giving Compass' Take:
• Experts at The Aspen Institute argue the need for programs like the American Rescue Plan to be inclusive of Latino workers and business owners.
• Why are Latino-owned businesses more vulnerable than their white-owned counterparts? How has the pandemic worsened these inequities?
• Read more about fostering employment opportunities for American Latinos.
As the country recovers from the economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, building back better requires creating a more equitable business ecosystem. Federal programs like the American Rescue Plan and the Made in America Laws have the potential to lift up economies in communities throughout the country—if they are inclusive and leverage the strengths of all American workers, including Latino workers and business owners.
Representing 17.6 percent of the nation’s workforce and on track to become 28 percent of the total U.S. population by 2060, Latinos are a critical driver of our economic rebuilding efforts. In her recent remarks to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce about pandemic recovery, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen noted, “I know Hispanic workers can power our recovery . . . so long as we remove some of the long-standing barriers that have been in your way.” Latino-owned businesses grew 19 percent from 2012 to 2017—far above the 12 percent average growth rate of all U.S. firms. A report from the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative (SLEI) finds that if Latino-owned employer firms generated the same average revenues and employed the same number of people as non-Latino-owned businesses, their economic contribution in annual revenues would be nearly $900 billion and the number of people employed would be 4.2 million. Yet, deep disparities exist. Latino-owned businesses tend to be smaller than their white-owned counterparts and more concentrated in low-wage sectors. And, in the aftermath of the pandemic, things may look worse.