When it comes to working from home, American Indians and Alaska Natives, on average, have the lowest, remote work access rate. A study published recently by the Brookings Institution and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found that Native employees are being consistently left behind other workers in the work-from-home trend. The authors note that even as media outlets and researchers have begun to emphasize the benefits of remote work, fewer analyses have focused on its racial disparities.
At the height of the COVID-19 economic crisis, Native people worked remotely 8 percent less than white workers, the report found. As workers returned to the office in 2021 and 2022, that gap closed but never disappeared, and by early summer 2022, Native employees were still working remotely 2 percent fewer white workers.
The researchers cited a variety of factors, ranging from the lack of high-speed internet to a decent desk and other furniture, as well as an overrepresented in certain frontline occupations. On top of that, multigenerational families often share a home and, by extension, a workplace. Native people are more likely to live in overcrowded housing, and likely have fewer rooms available to convert into workspaces, the report said.
Another additional factor is job discrimination. Even when controlling for educational disparities, Native people still tend to end up in jobs that require less education and have worse labor market outcomes.
Remote work has the potential to bring new economic opportunity while allowing Native people to stay in touch with their communities and cultures at home. Policymakers could consider a new tribal focused infrastructure bill, with the goal of expanding investments in housing and digital infrastructure, according to the report.
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