The socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable Asian American communities and the potentiality of multigenerational, culturally informed solidarity economy as critical intervention

Throughout the pandemic, Asian Americans (AAs) have faced a compounding triple crisis of health vulnerability, anti-Asian violence, and widespread economic insecurity, registering one of the highest unemployment rates across all racial groups, high representation in frontline and high COVID-impacted economic sectors, and pre-existing socio-economic and health precarities. Yet, there is little scholarship on the social and economic impact of COVID on Asian Americans, and even less on the more vulnerable and less visible subgroups such as low-wage workers, newer Southeast Asian refugees, and the undocumented. The existing few studies on Asian Americans tend to adopt a pan-Asian framework without consideration of the differences and disparities within and among communities. Most focus on health and do not go beyond identifying the problems.

Given these existing gaps in evidence, our project aims to: 

1. assess the research landscape on COVID impact on AAs;
2. assess COVID impact on the economic, health, and social well-being of South and Southeast Asian (S/SEA) lower-skill, low-wage workers and new refugee communities; and
3. engage those communities in multigenerational conversations about the potentiality of solidarity economy, particularly home caregiving cooperative, as a pathway to greater economic security, mutual aid and self-determination.

We have identified homecare as one intervention focus because of existing needs in the community and complementarity of skills, aptitudes, and cultural values that many AA low-wage workers already possess. To capture these insights, we are conducting four (4) focus groups and 50 one-to-one interviews with S/SEA workers in vulnerable sectors, students, community advocates, and immigrant and refugee serving organizations. We plan to widely disseminate our research findings and to make them accessible to our community partners for their own advocacy and program development. 

Collaborators

• Asian Immigrant Women Advocates
• National Cambodian American Organization