Majority white areas got more PPP business loan money than Latino areas, UCLA study says

Research from our latest report with UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative was recently featured in a Los Angeles Times article, which revealed how majority white areas received more money from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) than majority Latino areas.

The disproportionate amount of PPP money going to wealthier, whiter areas may make economic and racial disparities worse across the state, the study said.

The disparities arose primarily because the loans, which are awarded to businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, were distributed on a first-come, first-served basis by big banks, said Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, director of research for the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative, which released the study on Wednesday along with the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge.

Larger businesses that had relationships with the big banks were better equipped to get the loans than smaller Latino businesses with fewer banking ties and less knowledge about how to apply, said Dominguez-Villegas, the study’s lead researcher.

For more details, read the full article here >>> Majority white areas got more PPP business loan money than Latino areas, UCLA study says

Download the report here >>> Disparities in the Distribution of Paycheck Protection Program Funds in California’s Congressional Districts