A recent survey found that 1 in 3 Asian immigrants experienced more discrimination in 2021 than when the COVID-19 pandemic began and that many reported negative experiences due to their race or ethnicity, ranging from receiving poor service to being verbally or physically attacked.
The Kaiser Family Foundation survey of Asian American community health center patients found echoed similar findings by other reports on the surge of anti-Asian incidents since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago.
Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) people are a diverse and growing population in the United States. Asian people are the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the United States, with their population increasing 81% from 10.5 million to 18.9 million between 2000 and 2019.
Given the diversity of the population, broad data on Asian and NHOPI people often mask underlying disparities among subgroups of the population. For example, there is a nearly 8-fold difference in uninsured rates among Asian and NHOPI subgroups, ranging from 4% for Japanese people to 32% for Mongolian people. Uninsured rates also vary by citizenship status among Asian and NHOPI people, with noncitizens more likely to lack coverage across groups.
Given the diversity of the population, broad data on Asian and NHOPI people often mask underlying disparities among subgroups of the population. For example, there is a nearly 8-fold difference in uninsured rates among Asian and NHOPI subgroups, ranging from 4% for Japanese people to 32% for Mongolian people. Uninsured rates also vary by citizenship status among Asian and NHOPI people, with noncitizens more likely to lack coverage across groups.
RELATED: AANHPI elderly impacted by rise in hateData are also often missing to identify and address disparities. Enhancing data to better understand the experiences of Asian and NHOPI people is of particular importance at this time, given growing levels of racism and discrimination amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including a significant uptick in hate incidents against Asian and NHOPI people.
Other highlights of the report:
- Nearly half (48%) say that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected their ability to pay for basic needs like housing, utilities, and food, four in ten (40%) report that it negatively affected their ability to do their job, and 43% say it has negatively impacted their mental health.
- Nearly half (48%) say it has affected their sleep and 39% report changes in their appetite and eating (Figure 9). Others say it has led to frequent headaches or stomachaches (24%), increased difficulty controlling temper (15%), increased alcohol or drug use (10%), and worsened chronic conditions, like diabetes or high blood pressure (9%).
- Over half (54%) of Asian health center respondents say they or another adult in their household lost their job or had their income or hours reduced due to the pandemic
- Over half of parents (52%) say the pandemic has negatively affected their children’s education and 41% say it has had negative impacts on their ability to care for their children.
- Three in ten (30%) Asian health center respondents say they put off or went without health care in the past 12 months and 37% of parents report doing so for their children.
- One quarter (25%) of respondents say they or a member of their household decided not to apply for or stopped participating in a government program to help pay for health care, food, or housing in the past year due to immigration-related fears
While these findings are not representative of Asian immigrants or Asian health center patients overall, they provide new insight into and understanding of the experiences of Asian health center patients who are largely immigrants, a group for whom there remain very little data.
The findings illustrate the ways Asian immigrants experience racism and discrimination in their daily lives and indicate that these experiences have increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They also suggest that immigration-related fears are ongoing among the community and contributing to reluctance accessing government assistance programs for food, housing, and health care.
The findings further show the that the pandemic has taken a toll on mental health and well-being, finances, and access to health care for Asian immigrant families. This increased understanding can help inform COVID-19 response efforts as well as efforts to address health disparities more broadly.
Going forward, continued efforts to assess and understand the experiences of smaller population groups, including Asian immigrants, remain important as they are often invisible in public data sources.
The findings illustrate the ways Asian immigrants experience racism and discrimination in their daily lives and indicate that these experiences have increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They also suggest that immigration-related fears are ongoing among the community and contributing to reluctance accessing government assistance programs for food, housing, and health care.
The findings further show the that the pandemic has taken a toll on mental health and well-being, finances, and access to health care for Asian immigrant families. This increased understanding can help inform COVID-19 response efforts as well as efforts to address health disparities more broadly.
Going forward, continued efforts to assess and understand the experiences of smaller population groups, including Asian immigrants, remain important as they are often invisible in public data sources.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.
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