SPP and WPP Student Organization to Host Workshop on the Impact of COVID-19 Among Latinas in California
Join the Pepperdine School of Public Policy (SPP) and Women in Public Policy (WPP) student organization on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, at 5:00 PM PDT for a workshop on the impact of COVID-19 on Latinas in California and policy solutions.
This event is hosted by SPP's Diversity Committee and WPP in observance of Women's History Month. This workshop has the goal to be interactive, where presenters will provide a background of Latinas' experiences during COVID-19 in California and also lead a discussion of possible policy solutions on how to address the challenges. Panelists will include current students Vanessa Cruz, Deja Frederick, and Susie Herrera. Dr. Luisa Blanco, professor of public policy and chair of the SPP Diversity Committee will moderate this workshop.
"My research team and I have worked with data that shows how Latinas are facing significant challenges during the pandemic but we feel we have not figured out the solutions. I am really looking forward to working with others in this interactive workshop to come up with potential solutions," said Blanco.
Presenters will share findings from a current report titled "Financial Stress Among Latino Adults in California During COVID-19" based on quantitative and qualitative data collected among 84 Latinos in California. Participants for this study were recruited through the internet panel Understanding America Study (UAS) and among Low and Moderate Income (LMI) Latinos who participated in the Mobile Financial Diaries (MFD) project, which took place during 2018-2019. Data about personal experiences during COVID-19 in November 2020 was collected and compared to data collected during the period August-October 2018. Given the characteristics of participants, the study seems to portray the experiences of Latinos in California who are working, speak English, are US citizens, and have relatively high levels of educational attainment and health insurance. The study findings are relevant to the experiences of Latinas during COVID-19, which will be the focus of the workshop.
Funding for the collection of data for this study was provided by the Pepperdine Office of the Provost and SPP Dean's Office.