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RFI interviewed David Hayes-Bautista, a professor at the University of California, about the report that reveals the dynamism of the Latin American community in the United States, despite the pandemic. In 2020, the GDP of Latinos in that country ranks fifth in the world economy, surpassing that of France. How does Hayes-Bautista explain this? ‘Latinos work more’.
If the Latin American population of the United States were an independent country, it would be the fifth economic power after the United States, China, Japan and Germany. That is what a report from two California universities shows about the growth and GDP of American Latinos in 2020, the year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This result is particularly remarkable considering the impact of the pandemic on that community, as it “hit them terribly,” David Hayes-Bautista, a professor at the UCLA School of Medicine and one of the authors of the study, told RFI. study.
“Covid was the first cause of death among Latinos with a rate of almost 60% more than among Anglo-Saxons. Despite this, Latinos show tremendous resilience. The economy closed in March 2020 (due to Covid) and the level of Latino participation in the labor force fell. But after two months, by May, it had rebounded. Now, two and a half years after the start of the pandemic, Latinos have a level almost six percentage points higher than Anglo-Saxons.”
And when asked how he explains this great performance, Hayes-Bautista doesn’t hesitate for a second to answer: “We just work harder. We are the essential workers. We kept the State above our men; we ensure meals three times a day, services, transportation, Latinos continue to work (during the pandemic).”
Now, what is most intriguing is that by occupying essential and front-line occupations, Latinos were more exposed to the virus and took more risks. But at the same time their income also increased. The report indicates that the US Latino consumer market surpassed that of South Korea.
“The level of growth of the consumption of Latinos is almost triple the level of consumption of non-Latinos. We are simply and simply more dynamic in all aspects. Another factor that we closely monitor is remittances. Remittances from the United States to Mexico in March 2020 increased from 2.5 billion dollars per month to 4 billion.
