LGBTQ people more likely to lose income during the pandemic

In a first-of-its-kind survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly a quarter of LGBTQ people reported losing income during the COVID-19 pandemic, a higher share than non-LGTBQ respondents.

U.S. unemployment and income statistics don't specifically measure the LGBTQ experience. This past July, the Census Bureau for the first time collected information about sexual orientation and gender identity of respondents to its Household Pulse Survey. Across four surveys about emotional and economic well-being, LGBTQ respondents reported higher levels of food insecurity, anxiety and depression than non-LGBTQ people.

LGBTQ respondents were nearly twice as likely to report experiencing food insecurity. The gaps in mental health and anxiety were even larger.

The survey gives some much needed insight into how the LGBTQ community has fared economically during the pandemic. Earlier research from the Human Rights Campaign and PSB research found that LGTBQ were more likely to be unemployed during the first few months of the crisis. In the May 2020 study of 4,000 people, 17 percent of respondents had lost their jobs, making them 23 percent more likely than nonLGBTQ participants. People of color surveyed were more likely to have lost their job during that time than white respondents.

The 2020 census also, for the first time, allowed respondents to specify that they are part of a same-sex couple. About 1 million same-sex couples cohabitate in the U.S., the bureau has found. Same-sex married couples are more likely to have degrees in higher education compared to opposite-sex partners. Those figures, however, do not account for all LGBTQ people.