When economic conditions are changing rapidly, data collected in the course of administering government programs can provide valuable information about recent developments. Timely data about economic conditions during the coronavirus pandemic have been provided by initial unemployment insurance claims and applications related to new businesses. These administrative data reveal severe economic disruptions in recent weeks.
Resource Category: Economics (General)
Can Small Firms Weather COVID-19?
With each day that passes, the far-reaching economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic become increasingly apparent. Of particular concern are the effects the pandemic is having and will continue to have on small businesses as they endure the direct impacts of social distancing directives, including temporary closures and modified operations. With declining revenues, many small firms have had to lay off employees. Governments have begun offering small business loans with attractive interest rates and repayment terms in order to help smooth cash flow and retain employees. While we do not have real-time data on the quickly changing small business conditions, the 2019 Small Business Credit Survey sheds light on how firms are likely to remain afloat during this uncertain time.
Federal Fiscal Relief and COVID-19
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law on March 27, 2020 and provides the largest amount of fiscal relief to date – approximately $2 trillion. The CARES Act includes one-time cash rebates for low- and middle-income households; additional support for unemployment benefits; loans for small businesses; direct funding for states, local governments, and tribal communities; funds changes to food assistance in the Families First legislation; an array of additional health care supports; and some additional support for human services, housing and homelessness, and student debt relief. While this analysis will focus on the relief and assistance summarized above, the CARES Act also includes $500 billion in loans and other investment for businesses and a series of tax provisions that primarily will primarily benefit large corporations and higher-income households.
Small Businesses Advancing Equity
Leaders in philanthropy increasingly recognize the role of business in advancing their objectives. To date, the focus of most efforts to engage business has been primarily on large companies. By contrast, the role of small business in creating healthy, equitable communities has generally not been explored.
Small Business Economic Bulletin October 2019
Small businesses show strength in self-employment increases, proprietors’ income gains, job creation advances and births staying above deaths. Loan delinquency rates remain low, but small business loan demand is waning.
Small Businesses after The Great Recession
Small businesses are essential to the economic infrastructure of both lower-income and higher-income neighborhoods. In this report, we compare small business performance in lower-income vs higher-income areas. Findings offer some directions for growing small businesses in LMI and ethnic/minority neighborhoods.
The Future of Banking
This report is based on research findings from focus groups and interviews. The focus groups were conducted with LMI individuals in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego, and the interviews were done with policy experts, regulators and representatives from the financial services sector. In sharing their experiences with the financial system, we have identified common challenges encountered by LMI consumers of color, and offer recommendations to address on-going barriers to financial inclusion.
Small Business, Big Dreams
Small Business, Big Dreams profiles nine National CAPACD members that serve AAPI small business clients in low-income communities across the country. The work of these community-based organizations is critical to maintaining and promoting the vitality of AAPI neighborhoods. This report provides a more nuanced narrative about the challenges to wealth building through entrepreneurship in low-income AAPI communities.
Closing The Wealth Gap for Millennial Women
Today, there are about 40 million millennial women, representing 31.5% of the female population in the U.S. Millennial women do not benefit from many economic policies and systems designed by, and built to meet the needs of, men as primary breadwinners. Millennial women came of age during the Great Recession, the rise of mass incarceration, unprecedented student debt levels, and changing workforce dynamics. All of these factors contribute to the fact that millennial women are 37% more likely than Generation Xers (those born between 1965 and 1984) to be living below the federal poverty line and are more likely to be underemployed or unemployed than previous generations.
Small Business Economic Bulletin March 2019
The Office of Advocacy’s Small Business Economic Bulletin for March 2019 shows gains in the number of employer small firms, owner’s income, and net job creation. The recovery of small business lending remains tentative, even with low loan delinquency rates. The bulletin provides the latest quarterly government statistics on small business income, job creation, startups, and finance. Read the Small Business Economic Bulletin to learn more.