Ong on Evictions and the Worsening Housing Crisis

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Paul Ong, research professor and director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge at UCLA Luskin, spoke to Fox 11 News about the impact of impending evictions on the housing crisis. A moratorium in Los Angeles prohibited landlords from evicting renters during the coronavirus pandemic, but many families fear they will lose their homes when the moratorium is lifted. The threat of eviction comes as widespread unemployment has pushed many households further into debt. After studying how the coronavirus crisis has affected different communities, Ong said that African American and Latino households in Los Angeles County are at high risk. “These are the same workers that … are on the financial edge,” he said. “By the end of the crisis, [they] will be deeply in debt.” 

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CNK Makes COVID-19 Information Available Via Online Data Map

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A new online map and data repository highlight research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic by the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge. The interactive visualization shows how different communities in Los Angeles County have been impacted by the health crisis. It draws on data and research conducted by UCLA Luskin Research Professor Paul Ong, director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, working in partnership with Ong & Associates, the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative, UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, and the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy. It visualizes information from a series of recently distributed research briefs that show disadvantaged communities are facing greater risks of income insecurity, job displacement and other hardships because of the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus.

LPPI Study on Coronavirus Impact on Minorities Is Distributed to Associated Press Outlets

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A recently published study by the Latino Policy and Politics Initiative (LPPI) based at UCLA Luskin received media coverage by the Associated Press. The study found that 40% of black people and Latinos reside in neighborhoods where those living conditions make them more susceptible to getting infected or transmitting the coronavirus. “It just builds on the vulnerability of these residents and of these ethnic enclaves,” co-author Sonja Diaz says in the AP story, which was picked up by the websites of news outlets such as KTLA5 television in Los Angeles and the New York Times. The LPPI director goes on to say, “They’re least equipped to deal with this virus because now they live in neighborhoods where they can’t stay at home and practice physical distancing, they’re hardest hit economically and then they’re not getting relief and recovery benefits.”

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Ong Comments on Slowing Population Growth in California

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Paul Ong, research professor and director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, was featured in a CalMatters article discussing California’s population growth as it slows to near-zero. After 170 years of steady growth, birth rates have started to decline and death rates are increasing. Additionally, foreign immigration is waning and more people are leaving California for other states. As the federal government conducts the decennial census, some experts worry that the poor, the nonwhite and the undocumented will be undercounted. A new UCLA study led by Ong found that the poorest neighborhoods in Los Angeles County also tend to have the lowest census response rates and the highest rates of COVID-19 infection. “The only way to prevent an extreme undercount in some areas of the county would be for a horde of in-person census takers to descend on parts of the city with the greatest chance of coronavirus transmission,” Ong said in the study.

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Ong Presses for Protections for Undocumented Farmworkers

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Paul Ong, research professor and director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the importance of coronavirus protections for undocumented farmworkers. Many of California’s farmworkers are undocumented, lack health insurance and don’t qualify for unemployment insurance or federal coronavirus relief. Ong said that undocumented farmworkers have been marginalized for decades through depressed wages and by being denied the safety net of programs such as unemployment insurance. A study by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that a majority of California voters support labor protections for farmworkers, such as paid sick leave, medical benefits and replacement wages if they contract the coronavirus. Ong said most Californians understand that farmworkers are critical in times of crisis. “At this time, they’re taking a huge risk by continuing to work so that the food chain is not broken,” he said.

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Ong and Diaz on Supporting Latino and Asian Communities During COVID-19

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Paul Ong, research professor and director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, and Sonja Diaz, director of the Latino Policy and Politics Initiative, co-authored an opinion piece for NBC News about the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic on communities of color. Their research suggests that Latino and Asian neighborhoods will be most affected by the predicted loss of 1.6 million jobs in California by this summer. Furthermore, they argue that “Latino and Asian workers disproportionately rely on low-wage jobs where the most layoffs in the wake of COVID-19 are occurring.” They write that the CARES Act stimulus packages are not enough to protect these vulnerable households, especially undocumented immigrants and service workers who hold multiple part-time jobs. Ong and Diaz recommended that states create “recovery programs focused on those who are highest at risk of not receiving federal COVID-19 relief” so that no one is left out of the recovery.

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Residents in L.A.’s Latino Neighborhoods Less Likely to Receive Relief Funds Researchers from UCLA Luskin combine forces to recommend that local leaders fill gaps in COVID-19 stimulus funding

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By Eliza Moreno

Fifty-six percent of Latino-majority neighborhoods in Los Angeles County have a high proportion of residents at high risk for not receiving individual relief funds from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act, according to a UCLA report.

The paper was written by researchers from the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative and the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge.

Its findings provide information that local and state officials can use to target resources and communications efforts in neighborhoods that are experiencing widespread economic distress. The CARES Act was passed by Congress in response to the economic disruptions associated with COVID-19; the measure includes payments to cover citizens’ basic needs.

“The global pandemic has put a spotlight on the cracks in our social safety net that often fail to catch those living in poverty, which disproportionately are people of color and immigrants,” said Sonja Diaz, founding director of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative and a co-author of the report. “Entire neighborhoods will face economic uncertainty, and a public health crisis is not the time to ignore their needs. We are only as healthy as our most vulnerable, and many communities in Los Angeles County will need targeted assistance.”

The Los Angeles neighborhoods where residents are least likely to receive a stimulus check are concentrated in downtown Los Angeles, including Westlake/MacArthur Park, Koreatown, Chinatown, Skid Row and Pico Union.

Those most at risk for not receiving relief funding tend to be lower income, people of color, and live primarily in renter neighborhoods. Immigrants also have an elevated risk, according to the report.

“The lack of support puts entire communities at risk here in Los Angeles County and requires immediate attention,” said Paul Ong, the study’s lead author and director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, which is housed in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Ong also is the founder of Ong & Associates, an economic and policy analysis consulting firm specializing in public interest issues, which provided services pro bono for the study.

The report recommends that state and local governments in the affected neighborhoods provide targeted support, including cash assistance and other social benefits, regardless of recipients’ citizenship status.

The report is the second analysis by the Latino Policy and Politics Initiative and the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge on the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis on underserved neighborhoods. A report published on April 1 examined economic vulnerability due to retail and service sector closures across Los Angeles County neighborhoods.

Latino, Asian American Areas at High Economic Risk, According to New Report

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Neighborhoods with significant Latino and Asian American populations in Los Angeles County are particularly vulnerable to economic uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report sponsored by the Latino Policy and Politics Initiative (LPPI) and Center for Neighborhood Knowledge (CNK) at UCLA Luskin, along with Ong & Associates. “Entire communities are in a precarious financial situation, weakening the economic base in areas that already have a history of underinvestment and limited opportunities,” said Paul Ong, lead author and CNK director. According to the report, almost 60% of Latino-majority neighborhoods and 40% of Asian-majority neighborhoods will be affected; in comparison, 12% of white-majority neighborhoods will face the same level of economic disruption caused by the global pandemic. The report includes recommendations for state and local officials to support low-wage workers in Los Angeles County. “Latinos and Asian Americans are critical to the continued success of Los Angeles County’s economy, and the impact that their families and neighborhoods will see in this crisis requires urgent action,” said Sonja Diaz, LPPI executive director. Communities that will see the greatest impacts include neighborhoods in northeast Los Angeles, South Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley, Inglewood and the northeast San Fernando Valley, the report found. The affected neighborhoods also have a high concentration of foreign-born residents. “Now is the time for elected officials to ensure that low-wage workers have a safety net in this time of crisis to ensure the safety and well-being of all communities,” Ong said.

Accuracy Is Crucial in Census Count, Ong Says

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Paul Ong, director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge at UCLA Luskin, spoke about the importance of accurate census data in guiding how we build cities and communities on the new podcast 2020 Counts. “The census allows us to understand who we are, how we live, where we live,” Ong said. A reliable count is key to understanding issues and inequities that shape policies, interventions and funding priorities — including new investments in public transit and infrastructure that will be in place decades into the future, he said. Ong cautioned that several groups are at risk of being undercounted. “If you are a renter, if you don’t speak English, if you are overly burdened with other aspects of life so you don’t have time or opportunity to fill out that census form, or you feel alienated from the government and society, or are fearful — all these are factors that lead to a lower probability of participating that has a rippling effect,” he said. Ong’s comments begin at the 23:30-minute mark.

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