A tale of unequal unemployment

Once upon a time in a humid land, republican governor Ron DeSantis announced that as of July 2022, the Orlando area unemployment rate was at 2.2%. This was seemingly a sign of a thriving strong economy, putting behind the difficult pandemic period. The fairy-tale continued throughout 2023, while as nationwide unemployment soared, Orlando remained at a tangible 2.7%. Domestic and international tourism (after all, an economic crisis would never hinder a visit to Mickey Mouse) and the state’s growing population, especially due to domestic migration, are often pointed as reasons for it. However, the seemingly good rate hides a horror story, with a finer analysis at county and demographic data for the region revealing an immense amount of inequality, peculiarly at the racial level.

When analyzing the map of unemployment in Orlando, one can clearly see that the locations with a majority  of Black residents are disproportionately affected by unemployment. All the districts with recession level unemployment fit into this demographic. Historically, there is a solid background for this. After the Civil War, Black Americans both stayed and migrated to Orlando, founding neighborhoods such as Jonestown, Eatonville and Parramore. The latter was created with the intent of housing Black people working in White households, and up until today experiences challenging socio-economic conditions, with an unemployment rate of 22% and median home value of $120,109.

Similarly, the Latino population is often located in neighborhoods with higher unemployment rates, often staying in a mid-point between the White low-unemployment and the Black high-unemployment  areas. Some good examples are Buenaventura Lakes, a hub for Puerto Ricans, with 11% unemployment (already recession level) and Winter Garden,  a popular choice among many Brazilian immigrants, at 6% unemployment.

Another economic layer to consider is that of median home values across different tracts. It notoriously overlaps with unemployment and racial data. In regions such as Parramore, houses have a median evaluation at around 120k, compared to Summerport Beach at around 650k. Considering that houses are the largest financial asset of the majority of Americans, this is an important measure to understand the population's socioeconomic status.

With climate change, Florida faces increasing environmental challenges that have an intense impact on communities of color, which are often unable to afford flood insurance or make renovations in home infrastructure to prevent impacts. At the map, one can see that despite Orlando's distance from the coast, some neighborhoods present a high risk for flooding today (over 2%). These also happen to overlap with areas that have recession level unemployment and Black or Latino predominance. In spite of natural risk, social vulnerability is very high in these places, which has a big impact on how catastrophes affect communities. While in white Windermere, the percentage of houses with flooding today is at 3.5%, this rate is at 28.6% in Parramore.

With the passage of time, the risk tends to increase together with natural disasters increasing occurrence given global warming. Due to Orlando's many lakes and relative proximity to the coast, public policies tackling vulnerable regions and assuring low-cost infrastructure repairs become essential. Previously in history, Jonestown a historical black community in the city, had already suffered tremendous flooding impact, being located at a low-lying level. In 1904, the Greenwood Cemetery sinkhole overflowed, flooding Jonestown up to the rafters of homes and forcing residents to evacuate. The forced displacement of communities such as the ones in Parramore and Buenaventura lakes, already in a vulnerable socioeconomic position, would increase homelessness and social security support needs by significant amounts. Furthermore, they would disrupt people's health, families and culture, creating something similar to intercity climate refugees.

Segregation in Orlando has forced many Black and Latino households into neighborhoods with poor air quality. Segregated areas are often poorer, more exposed to toxic pollutants, and have less access to doctors. Parramore, for example, is surrounded on all sides by Interstate. 13.2% of its inhabitants suffer from asthma, which does not come inadvertently as residents are exposed to multiple pollution particles. Asthma works infectiously: when an adult has it, attending work becomes often impossible and overall productivity is reduced, risking the job position. Worsening the situation, the pathology can easily incur unforeseeable medical expenses. When the affected individual is a child, these consequences are true not only for the legal guardians, but also for the minor's education.

Even to an outsider without much context of Orlando and its segregation history, looking at the map reveals clear differences in unemployment rates from tract to tract that have clear racial delineations. Paired with economic, health and climate data, we see very clearly the occurrence of unemployment not as an individual issue, but rather a systemic structural problem that works infectiously and has the potential to worsen baseline conditions such as asthma and floods. The conditions of employment go beyond the scope of unemployment. As we consider individuals' geography, we have awareness that their wages and labor terms/opportunities are also tied to where they are located and the place's demographic design. It makes little to no sense comparing the employment situation for a 25 year old from a gated community in Windermere to that of a 25 year old from Parramore.

Furthermore, it is clear that the costs of unemployment are far greater than monetary. It has a myriad of impacts on public health, cultural, racial and social ties. Economic constraints often deteriorate access conditions to health services and quality food, making it possible that preventive care is not sought and pathologies are only addressed when reaching an emergency point. Socially, we see the further marginalisation of communities of color, continuing a path of generational trauma and economic insecurity and an increase in housing vulnerability. All these issues wind up multiplying the others and are bound to worsen horror movie style if rooting unemployment and disparity are not addressed by public policy.

References:

Florida Commerce Press Releases. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Announces the Orlando Area July 2022 Employment Data, Retrieved 26 July 2023, from www.floridajobs.org/news-center/DEO-Press/2022/08/19/the-florida-department-of-economic-opportunity-announces-the-orlando-area-july-2022-employment-data.

Tcherneva, P., 2017. Working Paper No. 895 - levy economics institute. Retrieved July 24th, 2023, from https://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_895.pdf

Guest Writer |  on  July 28, 2021. “The Way We Were: Jonestown: Orlando’s First Black Community - the Community Paper.” The Community Paper -, 2 Aug. 2021, Retrieved July 24th, 2023, from www.yourcommunitypaper.com/articles/the-way-we-were-10/.

White, Ebony P. et al. Prosperity Now, 2022. Racial Wealth Divide Profile Orlando Florida. Retrieved July 24th, from 2023https://prosperitynow.org/sites/default/files/resources/Racial_Wealth_Divide_Profile_Orlando_Final.pdf.