One year later: The
economic consequences of
COVID-19 in Arizona
Key Findings
1. Since the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic in March 2020, a large number of
AZ households have experienced some type
of job disruption, including job losses
(44%), getting furloughed (20%), or reduced
work hours or income (52%).
2. Hispanic households experienced a much
higher rate of job disruptions (53%
compared to 25% in non-Hispanic White
households).
3. Low-income households were among the
most affected, with nearly half of households
making less than $50,000 a year
experiencing a job disruption.

Samantha Wetherell1
Anna Josephson1
Francesco Acciai2
Sarah Martinelli2
Aggie J. Yellow Horse3
Punam Ohri-Vachaspati2
1Dept.

of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Arizona
2 College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University
3
School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University

The data collected refer to approximately the first four
months of 2021, although for job disruptions, we inquire
about changes since the beginning of the pandemic in
March of 2020.
Unemployment rose dramatically during the early months
of the pandemic and the road to recovery since then
has not been smooth. Before the pandemic, in March
of 2019, the unemployment rate was 5.0% in Arizona
(3.8% nationally). In April 2020, these figures rose
sharply to 14.2% in Arizona (14.8% nationally). They
declined later in 2020 (7.0% during August in Arizona
and 8.4% nationally) and into 2021 (6.7% during
March
in
Arizona
and
6.0% nationally).
Throughout 2021 unemployment fell: rates in Arizona
were just 3.9% in November 2021 (4.2% nationally).iii

Changes in Employment
Job disruptions have been widespread among
Arizona households since the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic.

4. Within households that experienced a job
disruption, Non-White households faced
food insecurity rates greater than 50%.

Introduction
As of May 2022, there have been more than 80
million confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the
United States, and over two million cases in
Arizona. The pandemic has had a devastating impact on
local, national, and global economies.i,ii This brief
features the findings from data collected from a survey
administered to Arizona residents in April of 2021, as
well as national statistics, to understand some of the
economic consequences of COVID-19 and its impacts
on Arizona households.
1

Figure 1. Prevalence of Job Disruptions Since March 2020.

• Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March
2020, more than half of respondents (52%) reported
that they (or someone in their household) have
experienced reduced hours or income; 44% reported
having lost their job; and 20% reported being
furloughed (Figure 1).
• Non-Hispanic White households had the lowest rate of
job disruption (25%). Other households experienced a
much higher rate of job disruption, including greater
than 50% for Hispanic households (Figure 2).
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One Year Later: The Economic Consequences of COVID-19 in Arizona

Figure 2. Prevalence of Job Disruption, by Ethnicity.

• There was a clear income gradient in the prevalence
of job disruptions among Arizona households. Lower
income households (based on the 2019 annual
income) disproportionately experienced job
disruptions since the start of the pandemic (Figure
3).
• Close to half of households with an annual income of
less than $50,000 reported experiencing some type of
job disruption. The prevalence of job disruptions
decreases to 34% for households with income
between $50,000 and $99,999 and to 29% for
households with the highest income ($100,000 or
more) (Figure 3).

• Among households that experienced a job
disruption, Non-Hispanic Non-White (a composite
group that includes non-Hispanic Black, Asian,
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, Native
American, and individuals belonging to two of
more races) households faced the highest rate of
food insecurity with 62%, followed closely by
Hispanic households at 58% (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Prevalence of Food Insecurity among Households that
Experienced a Job Disruption, by Race / Ethnicity

Figure 6. Prevalence of Food Insecurity among Households that
Experienced a Job Disruption, by Income.

Figure 3. Prevalence of Job Disruption, by Income.

Job Disruptions and Food Security
Experiencing a job disruption is associated with
considerably higher food insecurity rates.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food
insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food for
an active, healthy life.iv We measured food insecurity using
the USDA’s validated six-item household food insecurity
survey module.v Households where respondents answered
affirmatively to two or more of the food insecurity
questions were considered food insecure.v

Figure 4. Food Security Status, by Job Disruption Status.

• The prevalence of food insecurity was almost four times
greater among households that experienced some type
of job disruption, compared with households that did
not experience any job disruption (55% vs 14%) (Figure
4).

2

• There is an obvious income gradient in food security
among households which experienced a job disruption
(Figure 6).
• Among households which experienced a job disruption,
nearly 80% of those with income lower then $25,000 and
65% of those with income between $25,000 and $50,000
were food insecure (Figure 6).

Conclusions
• Uncertainty about the economy persists. As
unemployment begins to decline around the country
and in Arizona, assistance is needed for families
experiencing job disruptions. Ongoing assistance may
be required to help households to weather the negative
impacts of job loss, furlough, and lost hours and
income. Program outreach should focus on
households affected by job disruptions, including lowincome households and Non-White households.
• As households that faced a job disruption were more
than three times as likely to experience food insecurity
—a figure that did not change since the early months
of the pandemic—waivers to federal food assistance
programs to help families facing food insecurity should
remain in place.
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One Year Later: The Economic Consequences of COVID-19 in Arizona

Study Approach

About NFACT

The survey instrument used for the current study is
a publicly available.vi We surveyed 814 Arizona
residents (age 18 or over) in April of 2021, one year
since the start of the pandemic, using Qualtrics
online panels. The current brief reports results based
on 696 respondents with complete data on all variables
used in the analysis. Survey respondents were selected
to be representative of the Arizona population, with
an oversampling of respondents
from
lowincome households. The respondents in the full
sample resided in 84 towns, from 14 out of the 15
counties in Arizona. Most respondents lived in
Maricopa county (61%), followed by Pima (15%)
and Pinal (6%) counties. Respondents were 18-89 years
old, with an average age of 48. Almost half (45%) of
the respondents were from low-income households
(i.e., with an annual income in 2019 lower than
$50,000). The racial/ethnic composition of the sample
was as follows: 52% non-Hispanic White; 26% Hispanic;
8% Black; 6% Asian or Pacific Islander; 5% American
Indian or Alaskan Native; and 3% ‘Other/Multiple’ race.

The National Food Access and COVID Research
Team (NFACT) is a national collaboration of
researchers com-mitted to rigorous, comparative, and
timely food access research during the time of COVID.
We do this through collaborative, open access research
that prioritizes communication to key decisionmakers while building our scientific understanding of
food system behaviors and policies. To learn more
visit nfactresearch.org.

Participants were asked to answer questions on a variety
of topics, including food security, food access, food
assistance program participation, employment status, as
well as household and individual demographic
characteristics. All analyses used sampling weights so
that the sample reflects the Arizona income, race, and
ethnicity distribution in 2019, based on the American
Community Survey 5-year estimates. Limitations of
the
current
survey
may
include the
underrepresentation of groups with low literacy or
unable to take survey in English/Spanish, without cell
phone or Internet, facing high pandemic demands, and
with low trust of surveys. Self-selection into the sample
might be even more relevant for older adults (age 65+),
as use of Internet is less prevalent among
this demographic group. Additionally, responses
may be influenced by factors such as social
desirability, recall bias, misunderstanding, or rushing to
complete.

Acknowledgments
This project was supported by a COVID-19 seed grant
from the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State
University and a COVID-19 seed grant from the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of
Arizona.
3

References
i. New York Times. Tracking Coronavirus in Arizona:
Latest Map and Case Count. Published 2021. https://
www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/arizonacovid-cases.html.
ii. Our World in Data. Coronavirus Pandemic – the
Data. Published 2021. https://ourworldindata.org/
coronavirus-data.
iii. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economy at a Glance.
Published 2021. https://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.az.htm.
iv. United States Department of Agriculture. Definitions
of Food Security. United States Department of
Agriculture. Published 2020. ers.usda.gov/topics/
food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/
definitions-of-food-security.aspx. Accessed on
10/22/2020.
v. USDA. U.S. Household Food Security Survey
Module: Six-Item Short Form United States
Department of Agriculture; Published 2012.
vi. Niles, M.T., Neff, R., Biehl, E., Bertmann, F.,
Belarmino, E.H., Acciai, F., Ohri-Vachaspati, P.
"Food Access and Food Security During COVID-19
Survey - Version 2.1" https://doi.org/10.7910/
DVN/4KY9XZ, Harvard Dataverse, V3. Published
2020.

June 2022