ROADS MORE THAN A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO SOUND INFRASTRUCTURE IS AN IMPORTANT COUNTER TO HISTORIC RACIAL INEQUITY - The Thurgood Marshall Institute
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TMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
MORE THAN
ROADS &
BRIDGES
A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO SOUND INFRASTRUCTURE
IS AN IMPORTANT COUNTER TO HISTORIC RACIAL INEQUITY
By Algernon Austin, PhD
1 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org
Table of Contents Introduction 1 Roads and Bridges, and a Whole Lot More 2 Roads and Bridges: Costly and Unsafe 4 Energy: The Need to Move Away from Fossil Fuels 6 Drinking Water and Wastewater: Contamination Risks and Rising Costs 8 Broadband: The Racial Digital Divide 10 Transit: Underdeveloped in the United States 11 Schools: Underfunded and Racially Unequal 12 Public Parks: For Health, Comfort, and Public Safety 13 Levees: Disasters Waiting to Happen 14 Affordable Housing: An Extreme Scarcity 15 The Care Economy: Too Small and Too Low Pay 16 Conclusion 17
TMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
MORE THAN ROADS AND BRIDGES
A Comprehensive Approach to Sound
Infrastructure Is an Important Counter
to Historic Racial Inequity
It should be obvious that a broad and deep and there is also an indirect inequity because the
investment in the nation’s long-neglected harm from failing infrastructure is more severe
and now failing infrastructure is necessary for Black communities. Black communities are
to ensure the United States continues to be a disproportionately low-wealth communities,
leading, prosperous democracy among nations. and people with little wealth commonly lack
A sound infrastructure helps us all – individuals, the resources to protect themselves and to
communities, businesses, and government— recover quickly from disasters resulting from
urban and rural. For those of us who have been infrastructure failures. When we fail to make
long disadvantaged in this nation through adequate infrastructure investments, we
structural racism and discrimination, however, subject African Americans to high risks of harm
a sound infrastructure in every community from infrastructure failures.
is especially critical as a bulwark against
the pernicious harms of discrimination and This brief provides an overview of the need for a
segregation. Having a solid infrastructure broad range of infrastructure investments and
on which everyone stands helps counter provides examples of both types of inequities.
structural inequities driven by segregation While it focuses on African Americans, it
and longstanding differences in investments in should be clear that other groups, particularly
communities based on race. Latinos, Native Americans, and low-wealth
individuals, are also disproportionately harmed
Unequal investment is one of two types of by our failure to invest adequately in America’s
inequities stemming from our historic and infrastructure.
current infrastructure policies and practices.
There is inequity directly via unequal and
inadequate investments in Black communities,
1 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org
TMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
Roads and Bridges, and a Whole Lot More
When people hear the word “infrastructure,” Every four years, the American Society of
they often think of roads and bridges. There Civil Engineers (ASCE) assesses America’s
is no question that roads and bridges are infrastructure and produces a report card.
infrastructure, but as civil rights leaders have ASCE evaluates 17 types of infrastructure and
urged the nation to recognize, infrastructure is beginning to recognize the importance of
entails far more than just these two things. broadband.2 Roads and bridges are only two of
the 17. We argue for an even broader conception
of infrastructure than ASCE and recognize that
Some argue that infrastructure
each form of infrastructure is important to the
only encompasses roads,
future of the United States broadly, but also of
bridges, tunnels, and railroads
particular importance to African Americans.
and while those are all vital,
We will illustrate this point by focusing on ten
this definition is woefully
types of infrastructure considered by ASCE and
inadequate. Infrastructure
their relevance for African Americans. We will
includes sewer systems, water
also address two types of infrastructure not
lines, waste facilities, and
evaluated by ACSE: affordable housing and the
telecommunications. It also
care economy.
includes parks, housing, public
squares, economic centers, and
schools.1
2 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org
AVIATION D+
BRIDGES C
DAMS D
DRINKING WATER C-
ENERGY C-
HAZARDOUS WASTE D+
INLAND WATERWAYS D+
ASCE’s current overall rating of America’s
DRINKING WATER D
infrastructure is a C-minus.3 A C grade means
that the infrastructure “shows general signs
of deterioration and requires attention.”4 A D LEVEES D
grade means that the infrastructure has “many
elements approaching the end of their service PORTS B-
life.”5 A C-minus grade, therefore, suggests
that much of America’s infrastructure is
deteriorating, and some of it is near the end of
PUBLIC PARKS D+
its service life.
RAIL B
ASCE estimates that the country needs to
invest $2.59 trillion over the next ten years to ROADS D
bring all of the country’s infrastructure to a good
condition.6 This expenditure is an investment
that will contribute to future economic growth SCHOOLS D+
and not an expense that will simply drain our
resources. If we fail to make these investments SOLID WASTE C+
by 2039, ASCE estimates that our economy
will lose $10 trillion in GDP, more than three
million jobs, and $2.4 trillion in exports.7 These
STORMWATER D
numbers do not account for the lives lost, the
life expectancies reduced, and the suffering TRANSIT D-
that is caused by poor infrastructure.
WASTEWATER D+
SOURCE: ASCE 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure
3 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org
TMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
Roads and Bridges: Costly and Unsafe
To appreciate the importance of roads and
bridges for African Americans, it is useful to
MISSISSIPPI’S MAJOR ROADS
look at Mississippi, which is the state with the AND HIGHWAYS CONDITION
largest share of African American residents,8
GOOD POOR FAIR
at nearly 40%.9 ASCE gives the nation’s roads
a D grade and the nation’s bridges a C grade.10
Mississippi’s roads and bridges are considerably
worse than the national average, with both rated
D-minus.11
ASCE finds that only 24% of Mississippi’s major
roads and highways are in good condition.
24%
Forty-three percent are in poor condition,
and the remaining 33% are in mediocre or
fair condition.12 Bad roads impose costs
on motorists. For example, in Southaven,
Mississippi, ASCE estimates that damage from
bad roads costs the average driver $1,870
a year.13 This amounts to 6% of the median
household income for Black Mississippians,
and 3% for White residents of the state.14 ASCE
values the lost time due to drivers being stuck 43%
in traffic in Southaven at an additional $1,080
per driver.15
Many Americans would struggle to pay for a
vehicle repair bill of $1,870—or even half as
much.16 For Black Mississippians, who have
lower incomes than both average Americans
and White Mississippians 17 the struggle is likely
to be considerably harder.18 These repair bills
could easily cause lasting damage to Black 33%
households in the state. When people are unable
to use their vehicles, there is considerable
hardship because, for much of America,
Mississippi included, many day-to-day activities
4 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org
Lawrence Sawyer/Getty Images
require access to a private vehicle. The loss of condition, and 9% of them need substantial
access to a vehicle could lead to the loss of a repairs.20 Over 400 Mississippi bridges have
job, the inability to access health care, or the been closed because they are unsafe. There
inability to vote. Individuals might need to turn are many weight-restricted bridges that cannot
to high-interest loans to pay for repairs, leading support a load heavier than a pickup truck.21
to substantial debt. Alternatively, individuals
might be forced to drive an unsafe vehicle and As illustrated, roads and bridges are important
put their health and the health of others at risk. to African Americans, but these are not their
only important infrastructure needs.
There is another health risk from Mississippi’s
bad roads. Mississippi has one of the highest
automotive fatality rates in the country. The
state’s bad roads are implicated in about a third
of the deaths.19
As mentioned above, Mississippi’s bridges also
received a D-minus grade. Among the reasons MISSISSIPPI’S
BRIDGES HAVE
Mississippi’s bridges earn such a poor grade is BEEN CLOSED
because only 63% of them are in good condition. BECAUSE THEY
More than a quarter of them (28%) are in fair ARE UNSAFE
5 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org
TMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021 Energy: The Need to Move Away from Fossil Fuels HOUSTON, Feb. 15, 2021 -- A highway is closed due to snow and ice in Houston, Texas, the United States, on Feb. 15, 2021. Up to 2.5 million customers were without power in the U.S. state of Texas Monday morning as the state's power generation capacity is impacted by an ongoing winter storm brought by Arctic blast. Photo by Chengyue Lao/Xinhua via Getty Images While Black people do not comprise a large dying when their medical devices failed, or percentage of the population of Texas, by the they were unable to get life-saving medical numbers, more Black people live in Texas than treatment.24 The Houston Chronicle reported in any other state.22 This year, a severe winter that [t]he deaths come from 57 counties in all storm shut down the electrical grid in Texas, regions of the state but are disproportionately causing many people to go without heat and centered on the Houston area, which at times water for several days.23 This caused a severe during the crisis accounted for nearly half of crisis, resulting in almost 200 deaths, including all power outages. Of the known ages, races people freezing to death, dying from carbon and ethnicities of the victims, 74 percent were monoxide poisoning when they were forced to people of color. Half were at least 65. Six were rely on dangerous sources of heat, and people children.25 6 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org
TMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
The Texas blackout during a severe winter storm climate change is expected to be most severe
is a foreshadowing of future catastrophes, in the Southern United States, where the Black
as climate change will bring more extreme population is concentrated.33 Additionally, White
weather.26 Power failures have increased by Americans have greater wealth to endure natural
more than 60% across the nation since 2015.27 disasters stemming from climate change,34 and
A sustained power failure during a heatwave the requirements for receiving government
could be more deadly than one during extremely aid in disaster areas are structured in ways
cold weather.28 Already, in early June 2021, to disproportionately benefit wealthy White
the Electric Reliability Council of Texas urged homeowners.35 Consequently, researchers are
Texans “to turn down thermostats and cut back finding that natural disasters widen existing
electricity use” after the reserve of available inequalities.36
electricity had shrunk to near critical levels.29
While there is much damage from climate
Our energy systems—our engines and our power change expected in the future, African
plants—mainly rely on fossil fuels that produce Americans have been living with the harm from
greenhouse gases that lead to climate change. the pollution and toxins from burning fossil fuels
Climate change causes extreme weather events for generations. African Americans are more
that are expected to exceed the capacity of our likely to live near fossil-fuel power plants, and
infrastructure.30 To address this problem, we they are “exposed to 1.5 times as much of the
need to move away from fossils fuels to help sooty pollution that comes from burning fossil
limit the damage from climate change,31 and fuels as the population at large.”37 Exposure
we need to design our infrastructure with the to fossil-fuel pollutants increases the risk of
awareness that weather that used to be seen as preterm births, asthma, cancer, and other
extreme will be increasingly normal. 32 ailments.38 Moving to clean renewable energy
will bring significant health benefits to African
Climate change will be more harmful to African Americans.39
Americans. The negative economic impact from
Climate change
will be more harmful to
African Americans.
7 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org
TMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
Drinking Water and Wastewater:
Contamination Risks and Rising Costs
of contaminants, including the neurotoxin lead,
Our research confirmed that into the city’s water.41 No level of lead is safe
failing infrastructure is the for children. Flint pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-
biggest contributing factor Attisha estimates that 14,000 children under
to rising water costs. . . . six years old may have been exposed to lead
Unsurprisingly, rising water from Flint’s water, and many of them will likely
rates are most likely to impact suffer from disabilities for the rest of their lives
communities of color. because of it.42 African American lives, health,
—Coty Montag, Water/Color40 and prosperity rest on the quality of America’s
infrastructure, and America’s infrastructure is
failing.
In 2014, Flint, Michigan, a majority Black city,
experienced the mismanagement of its aging Among U.S. states, Louisiana ranks second
water infrastructure when state officials who had in the share of the population that is Black.
taken over city government allowed the release
8 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.orgAbout a third of all Louisianians are Black.43 the nation as a whole, the wastewater grade is
Like the country as a whole, Louisiana is not D-plus,53 the same as for Georgia.54 Georgia’s
adequately investing in and caring for its wastewater infrastructure is old and failing to
drinking water infrastructure. Louisiana is also keep up with improved water quality standards.55
depleting its aquifers, which puts them at risk Hurricanes and other extreme weather events
of saltwater intrusion and pollution from human will be more common with climate change and
sources.44 ASCE gives the nation’s drinking could overwhelm the system and cause sewage
water a C-minus.45 Louisiana’s drinking water spills that threaten public health.56
infrastructure is worse; it is rated a D-minus.46
In part because of the cost of maintaining a
The majority African American town of St. failing water infrastructure, water is becoming
Joseph, Louisiana, made the news when more expensive. Between 2010 and 2018,
elevated levels of lead and copper were found the average water bill in the United States
in its water system. A resident stated, “It’s just increased by nearly 60% — faster than every
a given fact that at some point during the week, other household expense.57 This steadily
you’re going to have brown or yellow water.”47 increasing cost is placing a burden on low-
This problem has been going on in St. Joseph for income households that are disproportionately
years. The state health officer does not believe African American. Studies have found that
that St. Joseph’s water problem is unusual for a Black households are more likely than White
small town.48 households to have their water shut off.58
A fifth of Louisiana residents do not have reliable Having the water shut off is not the worst that
access to drinking water.49 A large share of the can happen to people who are unable to pay
population is at risk of losing water in the event their water bills. A home without water can
of a natural disaster like a hurricane.50 Much of be deemed unsuitable for children, which can
the water infrastructure is over 60 years old and lead to legal charges and the removal of one’s
beyond its intended design life.51 children. Also, local governments commonly
place liens on homes with unpaid water bills
Of U.S. states, Georgia has the third largest share that can lead to foreclosure and eviction.59
of its population that is African American.52 For
9 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.orgTMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
Broadband: The Racial Digital Divide
Many aspects of life in America are accessed and broadband.60 A quarter of Black teens have said
conducted online. Students need the internet that they are sometimes unable to complete
to complete assignments. Jobseekers need homework assignments because they lack a
the internet to apply for jobs. Citizens need the reliable computer or an internet connection.61
internet to learn the news and to communicate
with their elected representatives. The infirm States and school districts responded to the
may be able to receive health care via internet- remote-learning requirements of the pandemic
enabled telemedicine. Businesses need the by providing internet and computing resources
internet to reach customers. More and more to students. These resources have helped to
activities are being done only via the internet. narrow the digital divide some, but substantial
racial disparities remain.62 There is a need to
Access to high-speed internet—broadband— continue and increase these investments if we
however, is not universal. In 2019, about eight- wish to eliminate the racial divide in internet
in-ten White people had access to broadband at access.
home, but only two-thirds of Black people had
10 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.orgTMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
Transit: Underdeveloped in the United States
ASCE rates America’s transit systems a African Americans rely on public transit
D-minus,63 just above failing. Part of this more than other racial groups.68 Increased
grade is due to the aging and underfunded investments in public transit can improve both
transportation infrastructure.64 Part of the access and the transit experience, which would
grade is due to the low rate of access to public be a significant benefit for Black riders. Public
transit. Forty-five percent of Americans have no transit is more fuel-efficient than private vehicle
access to public transit.65 A recent study of rail travel, and thus it can contribute to mitigating
public transit in rich countries further highlights the effects of climate change.69 Public transit
the low rate of public transit access in the United fueled by green energy not only increases the
States. The study examined 85 cities, including climate-change mitigating effects, but it also
14 U.S. cities.66 Of those 14 U.S. cities, 11 of them may tend to reduce African American exposure
were ranked in the bottom 15 worst performing to the harmful toxins from burning fossil fuels.
cities in terms of rail transit access.67 African Americans would also likely benefit
from the reduced traffic fatalities that come
with increased public transit usage.70
11 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.orgTMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
Schools: Underfunded and Racially Unequal
MILFORD, MA - SEPTEMBER 11: School children are spaced apart in one of the rooms used for lunch at Woodland Elementary School in Milford, MA on
Sept. 11, 2020. Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
A majority of America’s schools need to update still much more likely to attend schools that
or replace multiple building systems. More than have unhealthy, unsafe, and educationally
a fifth of public schools need to repair or replace inadequate facilities in desperate need of
school windows, plumbing, electrical systems, modernization.”73 Additionally, investing in
or HVAC systems. Although our public schools school infrastructure has been shown to
need considerable repairs and investments, produce “small but measurable impacts on
states have been reducing capital funding.71 For student achievement, high school graduation,
these and other reasons, America’s schools and college entry.”74 African American children,
received a D-plus grade from the ASCE.72 therefore, would likely see health, safety, and
educational benefits if we made the needed
While, on average, America’s schools are in repairs and investments in public schools.
bad condition, the hardship is not uniformly
distributed. “[P]oor and minority children are
12 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.orgTMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
Public Parks: For Health, Comfort, and Public Safety
Parks can deliver multiple benefits to and therefore the only place to receive the
communities. In addition to helping to promote mental health benefits of green spaces.77 Urban
physical activity and recreation, parks can areas can become heat islands, and because
reduce stress, improve mental health, and foster of climate change, we can expect this dynamic
community interaction.75 Like most of America’s to worsen. Trees and other vegetation found in
infrastructure, our parks are in poor condition. parks can significantly cool areas.78 Parks that
America’s public parks have a D-plus grade include raingardens, floodplains, and estuaries
by the ASCE.76 The country is not adequately can help mitigate the effects of flooding, which
investing in the upkeep of its public parks. is expected to worsen with climate change.79
Converting empty lots and abandoned, decrepit
Because the African American population is buildings into green spaces have been found to
disproportionately urban, public parks can be reduce crime.80 There are multiple benefits to
especially valuable to this population. Parks can increasing the park land in African American
be the only green spaces in an urban community, communities.
13 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.orgTMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021 Levees: Disasters Waiting to Happen Plans to improve the hurricane-protection As discussed above, Texas and Mississippi infrastructure for New Orleans were made as are states with significant African Americans early as 1965, but because of budget cuts and populations. Both states receive a D rating for a failure to fully appreciate the danger to the their levees from the ASCE.85 Several levees city, the project was never fully completed. In in these states have a “strong risk of failure.”86 2005, levees and floodwalls protecting New African Americans are more likely to live in Orleans failed in more than 50 places because floodplains, and as discussed above, are more of the storm surge caused by Hurricane severely harmed from disasters.87 These states Katrina.81 This was one of the costliest “natural” have future Katrina-type disasters waiting to disasters in U.S. history.82 The Black population happen. in New Orleans was overrepresented among the dead,83 and the Black community suffered more economically, socially, and psychologically than other communities.84 14 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org
TMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
Affordable Housing: An Extreme Scarcity
Imagine living in housing in New York City that closed because they are too long.94 For example,
has no heat, or that has lead paint, vermin, and one family waited eight years for a New York City
mold—and you still consider yourself somewhat public housing unit that has no heat. The family
lucky because at least you have housing you can has not left the unit because they can find no
afford. This is the situation for many residents other housing that they can afford.95 In 2014, the
of public housing in New York City,88 which has housing authority in charge of Chicago’s public
the nation’s largest public housing authority.89 housing opened its waiting list, and 280,000
While most of America’s public housing is families entered their names. That number
in better shape than the worst in New York was equivalent to a quarter of all households in
City,90 public housing, like the rest of America’s Chicago.96
infrastructure, has been underfunded and
neglected for years. The repair and maintenance Nearly a third of all American households live in
backlog for New York City’s public housing alone housing that costs more than the recommended
is estimated to be over $45 billion.91 Our failure 30% of household income. These households
to invest in public housing disproportionately are described as being cost-burdened.97 Most
affects African Americans. Their share of the African Americans are renters, and more
public housing population is about four times than half of African American renters are
their share of the population overall.92 cost-burdened.98 America needs substantial
investments to increase the supply of affordable
Although public housing has a very negative housing. These investments will not only provide
mainstream public image in the United States,93 safe and clean housing to millions of families,
the waiting lists for public housing units are but they will also add significantly to economic
typically filled with thousands of names or growth.99
15 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.orgTMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
The Care Economy: Too Small and Too Low Pay
earning the low wages typical for care work.
I can’t go to work, if I don’t have Because Black women are more likely to be
someone who’s taking care of unmarried parents or contributing substantially
my parents or my children. to their family’s income,106 they are more likely
—Cecilia Rouse, Chair, White House to need quality, affordable childcare than other
Council of Economic Advisers100 women. The COVID-19 recession has forced
the closure of schools and childcare centers,
which has made it difficult for many women to
It is still the case that women do the vast continue working.107 As of May 2021, the labor
majority of paid and unpaid care work in the force participation rate for Black women is
American economy.101 This means that the down more than for White and Latina women.108
health and strength of the care economy affect This may be the result of the lack of available
women in the labor force in two ways. First, the childcare for Black women.
care economy’s low wages102 contributes to
the overall lower economic position of women If we invest in our care infrastructure, we will
within the paid labor market.103 Second, the benefit the entire society. We will have greater
insufficient supply of paid care workers means participation in the labor force by women of all
that many women are not able to participate in races. We will have fewer employee absences
the paid labor force because they cannot find and higher worker productivity.109 If we increase
workers to care for their children or elders.104 the wages and benefits in the care economy, we
will increase the country’s GDP.110
Black women are overrepresented among care
workers105 and are therefore disproportionately
16 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.orgTMI BRIEFS AUGUST 2021
Conclusion
The United States as a whole is in dire need of infrastructure can ultimately save money and
significant infrastructure investments. All forms of improve health. Investing in broadband and in
infrastructure are especially important to African our public-school infrastructure can improve
Americans. In many cases, African American educational outcomes. Investing in parks
communities suffer disproportionate harm from and transit can improve the quality of life.
the nation’s failure to make needed infrastructure Repairing levees can prevent the next Katrina-
investments because they have limited income style disasters. Building affordable housing will
or savings to help endure the financial cost of provide safe homes for many Black families
injuries resulting from infrastructure failures. and reduce the maladies of homelessness.
They are also more likely to have to endure the Investing in the care economy will increase the
health risks from bad infrastructure. This could wages of workers in the care economy, who are
mean living with the toxic emissions from an oil disproportionately Black women. When we fail
refinery or living in areas most likely to be flooded to invest, our infrastructure deteriorates and we
when a hurricane hits. harm everyone, but disproportionately those
harms fall the hardest on the communities that
The current poor state of our infrastructure have been plagued by the disinvestment caused
also means that all Americans, but especially by racial discrimination and segregation. When
African Americans, can receive substantial we make smart, equitable infrastructure
benefits when we make smart and equitable investments, we can improve the health and
infrastructure investments. Investing in well-being of all Americans, and especially those
roads and bridges can save on expensive car suffering the most from the effects of historic
repairs. Moving to clean, green energy sources and ongoing discrimination and inequity.
can improve health. Modernizing our water
The United States as a
whole is in dire need of
significant infrastructure
investments.
17 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.orgEndnotes
1 Sherrilyn Ifill & Lisa Rice, Creating equitable infrastructure is essential to addressing racism in our country,
theGrio (May 13, 2021), https://thegrio.com/2021/05/13/creating-equitable-infrastructure-addressing-
racism/.
2 ASCE, 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure: A Comprehensive Assessment of America’s
Infrastructure 4, 162 (2021) [Full Report], https://infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/
uploads/2020/12/National_IRC_2021-report.pdf.
3 ASCE, 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure: A Comprehensive Assessment of America’s
Infrastructure 3 (2021) [Executive Summary], https://infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/
uploads/2020/12/2021-IRC-Executive-Summary-1.pdf; see also ASCE, Full Report, supra note 2, at 2.
4 ASCE, Executive Summary, supra note 3, at 3.
5 Id.
6 Id. at 6; see also ASCE, Full Report, supra note 2, at 5.
7 Id. at 6; see also ASCE, Full Report, supra note 2, at 5.
8 Author’s analysis of 2019 American Community Survey data from Steven Ruggles, Sarah Flood, Ronald
Goeken, Josiah Grover, Erin Meyer, Jose Pacas & Matthew Sobek, IPUMS USA: Version 10.0 [dataset],
Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS (2020), https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V10.0.
9 Id.
10 ASCE, Executive Summary, supra note 3, at 5.
11 Miss. Section of the Am. Soc’y of Civil Eng’rs, 2020 Report Card for Mississippi’s Infrastructure 6, ASCE
(2020) [Mississippi’s Infrastructure 2020 Report Card], https://infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/
uploads/2016/10/FullReport-MS_2020-1.pdf.
12 Id. at 65.
13 Id.
14 The 2019 median household income for the White population in Mississippi was $57,191. For the Black
population, it was $31,067. Table ID: S0201. Selected Population Profiles in the United States: 2019: ACS
1-Year Estimates: Mississippi, U.S. Census Bureau, https://data.census.gov/cedsci/ (select “Advanced
Search”; select “Topics” then “Income and Poverty” then “Income and Earnings” then “Income
(Households, Families, Individuals”; return to the “Topics” column, select “Race and Ethnicity” then “01
– All available basic races alone”; return to the “Browse Filters” column and select “Geography” then
“State” then “Mississippi”; return to “Browse Filters” and select “Years” then “2019”; click “Search” in the
bottom right; select the “Selected Population Profile in the United States” table. Scroll about two-thirds of
the way down the table for the household income data.).
15 Mississippi’s Infrastructure 2020 Report Card, supra note 11, at 65.
18 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org16 In 2019, “[n]early 3 in 10 adults were either unable to pay their monthly bills or were one modest financial
setback away from failing to pay monthly bills in full.” Consumer & Cmty. Research Section, Div. of
Consumer & Cmty. Affairs, Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2019, Featuring
Supplemental Data from April 2020, Bd. of Governors of the Fed. Reserve Sys. 21 (2020), https://www.
federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2019-report-economic-well-being-us-households-202005.pdf.
17 In 2019, the median American household income was $68,703. Jessica Semega et al., Income and
Poverty in the United States: 2019, U.S. Census Bureau 1, 4-5 (2020), https://www.census.gov/content/
dam/Census/library/publications/2020/demo/p60-270.pdf. It was $57,191 for White Mississippians and
$31,067 for Black Mississippians. U.S. Census Bureau, supra note 14.
18 At every educational attainment level, Black households are more likely than White households to be
struggling to pay the bills. Consumer & Cmty. Research Section, Div. of Consumer & Cmty. Affairs, supra
note 16, at 24 fig. 16.
19 Mississippi’s Infrastructure 2020 Report Card, supra note 11, at 64, 66.
20 Id. at 16.
21 Id. at 17.
22 Author’s analysis, supra note 8.
23 Christopher Flavelle, Brad Plumer & Hiroko Tabuchi, Texas Blackouts Point to Coast-to-Coast Crises Waiting
to Happen, N.Y. Times (Feb. 20, 2021, updated Feb. 21, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/20/
climate/united-states-infrastructure-storms.html.
24 Zack Despart, et al., Analysis reveals nearly 200 died in Texas cold storm and blackouts, almost double the
official count, Hous. Chron. (updated Apr. 2, 2021), https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-
texas/houston/article/texas-cold-storm-200-died-analysis-winter-freeze-16070470.php; Some estimate
the number of deaths from the storm to be as high as 700. See Justine Calma, Go read this investigation
into the real death toll from the Texas freeze: State officials low-balled the number of deaths, according to the
report, The Verge (May 27, 2021), https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/27/22456856/deaths-undercount-
texas-freeze-power-outage.
25 Id.; see also Zack Despart, Harris County suffered far more blackout deaths, power outages than the rest of
Texas, data shows, Hous. Chron. (Apr. 8, 2021), https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/
houston/article/Harris-County-suffered-far-more-power-water-16086083.php.
26 Flavelle et al., supra note 23.
27 Christopher Flavelle, A New, Deadly Risk for Cities in Summer: Power Failures During Heat Waves, N.Y. Times
(May 3, 2021, updated July 2,2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/climate/heat-climate-health-
risks.html.
28 Id. (“Heat is already the most dangerous type of severe-weather event, by one estimate killing some
12,000 Americans each year. And climate change is making heat waves more frequent and severe.”)
29 Shelby Webb & Marcy de Luna, ERCOT warns customers to conserve power in rare early-summer alert,
Houston Chron. (June 14, 2021, updated June 15, 2021), https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/
energy/article/ERCOT-issues-intermittent-conservation-alerts-16246788.php.
19 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org30 Whitford Remer, Adapting Infrastructure to a Changing Climate, ASCE’s 2021 Infrastructure Report Card:
Blog (June 2, 2015), https://infrastructurereportcard.org/adapting-infrastructure-to-a-changing-climate/;
Coral Davenport, Trump’s Infrastructure Plan May Ignore Climate Change. It Could Be Costly., N.Y. Times
(Feb. 10, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/climate/trump-infrastructure-climate-change.
html.
31 What Can Be Done About Climate Change, MIT: Climate Portal, https://climate.mit.edu/what-can-be-
done-about-climate-change (last visited July 7, 2021).
32 Jesse Jenkins, Opinion, A Plan to Future-Proof the Texas Power Grid, N.Y. Times (Feb. 18, 2021), https://
www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/opinion/future-proof-texas-grid.html; Flavelle et al., supra note 23.
33 See Brad Plumer & Nadja Popovich, As Climate Changes, Southern States Will Suffer More Than Others,
N.Y. Times (June 29, 2017), https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/29/climate/southern-states-
worse-climate-effects.html.
34 See, e.g., Tom Shapiro et al., Inst. on Assets & Soc. Pol’y at Brandeis U. & Janell Byrd-Chichester et
al., Thurgood Marshall Inst. of the NAACP LDF, The Black-White Racial Wealth Gap (2019), https://
tminstituteldf.org/publications/the-black-white-racial-wealth-gap/.
35 Taylor Gauthier & Financial Security Program, The Devastating Effects of Climate Change on US Housing
Security, Aspen Inst.: Blog (Apr. 9, 2021), https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/the-devastating-
effects-of-climate-change-on-us-housing-security/ (“Households of color face disproportionate impacts of
climate change and systemic inequities in federal assistance.”).
36 Junia Howell & James R. Elliott, Damages Done: The Longitudinal Impacts of Natural Hazards on Wealth
Inequality in the United States, 66 Soc. Probs. 448–65 (2019), https://academic.oup.com/socpro/article/6
6/3/448/5074453?guestAccessKey=339b3f1e-825b-48c9-af4b-1a2bb9908326.
37 Linda Villarosa, Pollution Is Killing Black Americans. This Community Fought Back, N.Y. Times Mag. (July 28,
2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/magazine/pollution-philadelphia-black-americans.html.
38 Joan A. Casey et al., Retirements of Coal and Oil Power Plants in California: Association With Reduced
Preterm Birth Among Populations Nearby, 187 Am. J. Epidemiology 1586–94 (2018), https://doi.
org/10.1093/aje/kwy110; Xiaopeng Liu, Lawrence Lessner & David O. Carpenter, Association between
Residential Proximity to Fuel-Fired Power Plants and Hospitalization Rate for Respiratory Diseases, 120 Envtl.
Health Persp. 807-10 (2012), https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.1104146; Lesley Fleischman,
Clean Air Task Force & Marcus Franklin, NAACP, Fumes Across the Fence-Line: The Health Impacts of
Air Pollution from Oil & Gas Facilities on African American Communities (2017), http://www.catf.us/wp-
content/uploads/2017/11/CATF_Pub_FumesAcrossTheFenceLine.pdf.
39 See, e.g., Jonathan I. Levy, Susan L. Greco & John D. Spengler, The importance of population susceptibility
for air pollution risk assessment: a case study of power plants near Washington, DC., 110 Envtl. Health Persp.
1253-60 (2002), https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/abs/10.1289/ehp.021101253.
40 Coty Montag, Water/Color: A Study of Race & the Water Affordability Crisis in America’s Cities: Overview,
Version Two, Thurgood Marshall Inst. of the NAACP LDF 5 (2019), https://www.naacpldf.org/wp-content/
uploads/Water_Report_Executive-Summary_5_21_19_FINAL-V2.pdf.
41 Events That Led to Flint’s Water Crisis, N.Y. Times (Jan. 21, 2016), https://www.nytimes.com/
interactive/2016/01/21/us/flint-lead-water-timeline.html.
20 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org42 Sharyn Alfonsi, Early results from 174 Flint children exposed to lead during water crisis shows 80% of them
will require special education services, 60 Minutes - CBS News (Mar. 15, 2020), https://www.cbsnews.com/
news/flint-water-crisis-effect-on-children-60-minutes-2020-03-15/.
43 Author’s analysis, supra note 8.
44 La. Section of the ASCE, Report Card for Louisiana Infrastructure 2017, ASCE 28 (2017), https://
infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Lousiana-FullReport-LA_2017.pdf.
45 ASCE, Executive Summary, supra note 3, at 5.
46 La. Section of the ASCE, supra note 44, at 28.
47 Rebecca Hersher, Contaminated Water In St. Joseph, La., Leads To Public Health Emergency, NPR (Dec. 16,
2016), https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/16/505910732/contaminated-water-in-st-
joseph-la-leads-to-public-health-emergency.
48 See id.
49 La. Section of the ASCE, supra note 44, at 29.
50 Id. at 31.
51 Id. at 29.
52 Author’s analysis, supra note 8.
53 ASCE, Executive Summary, supra note 3, at 5.
54 Ga. Section of the ASCE, 2019 Report Card for Georgia’s Infrastructure, ASCE 8-9 (2019), https://
infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/FullReport-GA_2019_web-1.pdf.
55 Id. at 102.
56 See id. at 106.
57 Coty Montag, Water/Color: A Study of Race & the Water Affordability Crisis in America’s Cities, Thurgood
Marshall Inst. of the NAACP LDF 21 (2019) [Water/Color Full Report], https://tminstituteldf.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/12/Water_Report_FULL_12_20_19.pdf.
58 Id. at 31.
59 Id. at 4-5.
60 Andrew Perrin & Erica Turner, Smartphones help blacks, Hispanics bridge some – but not all – digital
gaps with whites, Pew Res. Ctr. (Aug. 20, 2019), https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/08/20/
smartphones-help-blacks-hispanics-bridge-some-but-not-all-digital-gaps-with-whites/.
61 Monica Anderson & Andrew Perrin, Nearly one-in-five teens can’t always finish their homework because
of the digital divide, Pew Res. Ctr. (Oct. 26, 2018), https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/10/26/
nearly-one-in-five-teens-cant-always-finish-their-homework-because-of-the-digital-divide/.
21 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org62 Emma Dorn, Bryan Hancock, Jimmy Sarakatsannis & Ellen Viruleg, COVID-19 and learning loss—
disparities grow and students need help, McKinsey & Co. (Dec. 8, 2020), https://www.mckinsey.com/
industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/covid-19-and-learning-loss-disparities-grow-and-
students-need-help# (“[S]tates and districts made a Herculean effort to distribute devices, connect
students to the internet . . . But gaps remain.”).
63 ASCE, Executive Summary, supra note 3, at 5.
64 ASCE, Full Report, supra note 2, at 142.
65 Id.
66 Vincent Verbavatz & Marc Barthelemy, Access to mass rapid transit in OECD urban areas, 7 Sci. Data 1-6
(2020), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00639-3. Author’s analysis of data from Online-only Table
1 Population Near Transit values: Share of population living within catchment area from a MRT station at
thresholds 500~m, 1,000~m and 1,500~m for 85 OECD Functional Urban Areas, using 1,000m access.
67 Id.
68 Monica Anderson, Who relies on public transit in the U.S., Pew Res. Ctr. (Apr. 7, 2016), https://www.
pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/07/who-relies-on-public-transit-in-the-u-s/.
69 Reducing Your Transportation Footprint, Ctr. for Climate & Energy Sols., https://www.c2es.org/content/
reducing-your-transportation-footprint/ (last visited July 9, 2021).
70 See ASCE, Full Report, supra note 2, at 146.
71 Id. at 118–19.
72 Id. at 4.
73 Building Am.’s Sch. Infrastructure Coal., Education Equity Requires Modern School Facilities 1 (2018),
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a6ca11af9a61e2c7be7423e/t/5ecfc947d4d049452956b7
7d/1590675788253/BASIC+Education+Equity+-+New+Logo+Update-Just+logo_WhiteBack_Horizontal2.
pdf.
74 Paco Martorell, Isaac McFarlin, Jr. & Kevin Stange, Investing in Schools: Capital Spending, Facility
Conditions, and Student Achievement, Fed. Res. Bank N.Y. 1 (2014), https://www.newyorkfed.org/
medialibrary/media/research/education_seminar_series/Stange.pdf. See also Kai Hong & Ron Zimmer,
Does Investing in School Capital Infrastructure Improve Student Achievement?, 53 Econ. Educ. Rev. 143–58
(2016), https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272775716302813.
75 Parks and Trails Health Impact Assessment Toolkit, CDC, https://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/parks_trails/
(last updated Nov. 27, 2013); Jill Suttie, Why Trees Can Make You Happier, Greater Good Sci. Ctr. Mag. U.
Berkeley (Apr. 26, 2019), https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_trees_can_make_you_
happier.
76 ASCE, Full Report, supra note 2, at 4.
77 Suttie, supra note 75.
78 Using Trees and Vegetation to Reduce Heat Islands, EPA, https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/using-trees-and-
vegetation-reduce-heat-islands (last visited Dec. 16, 2019).
22 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org79 See ASCE, Full Report, supra note 2, at 95.
80 Editorial Board, Opinion,Reimagine Safety: Part 3: We can make neighborhoods safer just by changing
the physical environment, Wash. Post (Mar. 16, 2021), https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/
interactive/2021/reimagine-safety/.
81 Sarah Pruitt, How Levee Failures Made Hurricane Katrina a Bigger Disaster, Hist. (Aug. 27, 2020), https://
www.history.com/news/hurricane-katrina-levee-failures.
82 Vivek Abhinav, Aakanksha Gaur, Gloria Lotha, John P. Rafferty, Michael Ray, Emily Rodriguez, Amy
Tikkanen & Jeff Wallenfeldt, Hurricane Katrina|Damage, Deaths, Aftermath, & Facts, Encyclopedia
Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/event/Hurricane-Katrina (last updated Sep. 23 2020). “Natural”
is in quotations because there were several missed opportunities and bad decisions by humans that made
the disaster as bad as it was. See also id.
83 In Orleans Parish, which is coterminous with New Orleans, Black people died at 1.7 to 4 times the rate
of White people depending on the age category. Joan Brunkard, Gonza Namulanda & Raoult Ratard,
Hurricane Katrina Deaths, Louisiana, 2005, 2 Disaster Med. & Pub. Health Preparedness 215, 216–18 (2008),
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/disaster-medicine-and-public-health-preparedness/article/
hurricane-katrina-deaths-louisiana-2005/8A4BA6D478C4EB4C3308D7DD48DEB9AB.
84 Ben Casselman, Katrina Washed Away New Orleans’s Black Middle Class, FiveThirtyEight (Aug. 24, 2015),
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/katrina-washed-away-new-orleanss-black-middle-class/; David
W. Moore, Katrina Hurt Blacks and Poor Victims Most, Gallup (Oct. 25, 2005), https://news.gallup.com/
poll/19405/Katrina-Hurt-Blacks-Poor-Victims-Most.aspx.
85 Mississippi’s Infrastructure 2020 Report Card, supra note 11, at 6, 48; Tex. Section of the Am. Soc’y of Civil
Eng’rs, Texas Infrastructure Report Card 2021, ASCE 2 (2021), https://infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-
content/uploads/2016/10/TxIRC_2021_Brief.pdf.
86 ASCE, supra note 3, at 3.
87 Thomas Frank, E&E News, Flooding Disproportionately Harms Black Neighborhoods, Sci. Am. (June
2, 2020), https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/flooding-disproportionately-harms-black-
neighborhoods/.
88 See, e.g., Luis Ferré-Sadurní, No Heat for 10 Years, and the City Is Their Landlord, N.Y. Times (Dec. 19, 2018),
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/nyregion/nycha-housing-heat.html; Luis Ferré-Sadurní, ‘Lighting
Money on Fire’ as Mold and Rats Persist in New York Public Housing, N.Y. Times (July 26, 2019), https://www.
nytimes.com/2019/07/26/nyregion/nycha-rats-roof-repairs.html; Editorial Board, Opinion, New York’s
Public Housing Isn’t Getting Better, N.Y. Times (July 30, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/
opinion/new-yorks-public-housing-nycha.html.
89 J. David Goodman, After Years of Disinvestment, City Public Housing Is Poised to Get U.S. Oversight, N.Y.
Times (June 1, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/nyregion/after-years-of-disinvestment-us-
to-take-oversight-role-in-city-public-housing.html.
90 David Madden, Five myths about public housing, Wash. Post (Sept. 11, 2015), https://www.washingtonpost.
com/opinions/five-myths-about-public-housing/2015/09/11/2e55a57e-57c9-11e5-abe9-27d53f250b11_
story.html.
91 Sydney Pereira, City Warns NYCHA Could Need Double The Cash For Repairs In Coming Years, Gothamist
(Dec. 20, 2019), https://gothamist.com/news/city-warns-nycha-could-need-double-cash-repairs-coming-
years.
23 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org92 The National Low Income Housing Coalition found that Black households made up 12% of all
households, but 45% of households in public housing. Nat’l Low Income Housing Coalition, Who Lives
in Federally Assisted Housing?, 2 Housing Spotlight 3, 5 (2012), https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/
HousingSpotlight2-2.pdf.
93 The equivalent of public housing in other parts of the rich world—social housing—has much better
financing structures and suffers from no negative stigma. Peter Dreier, Why America Needs More Social
Housing, Am. Prospect (Apr. 16, 2018), https://prospect.org/infrastructure/america-needs-social-
housing/; Florian Urban, Myth #7: Only Immigrants Still Live in European Public Housing, in Public Housing
Myths: Perception, Reality, and Social Policy 154 (Nicholas Dagen Bloom, Fritz Umbach, and Lawrence J.
Vale eds., 2015).
94 Nicole Thelin, Waiting List for Housing? 3 Things You Need to Know, Low Income Relief (May 13, 2019,
updated Apr. 26, 2021), https://lowincomerelief.com/housing-waiting-list/; see also Zolan Kanno-Youngs
& Glenn Thrush, HUD Says Its Proposed Limit on Public Housing Aid Could Displace 55,000 Children,
N.Y. Times (May 10, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/us/politics/hud-public-housing-
immigrants.html (“[H]undreds of thousands of citizens are waiting for many years on wait lists to get
housing assistance.”); Ben Austen, The Towers Came Down, and With Them the Promise of Public Housing,
N.Y. Times Mag. (Feb. 6, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/magazine/the-towers-came-
down-and-with-them-the-promise-of-public-housing.html (“In 2014, when the C.H.A. opened a lottery just
to make it onto the waiting list for either a voucher or public-housing unit, 280,000 families entered their
names, a quarter of all the households in Chicago.”).
95 Ferré-Sadurní, No Heat for 10 Years, and the City Is Their Landlord, supra note 88.
96 Austen, supra note 94.
97 Author’s calculations based on The State of the Nation’s Housing [Excel Data: Appendix Tables] Table W-1:
US National–Housing Cost-Burdened Households by Demographic Characteristics: 2019, Joint Ctr. for
Hous. Studies (2020), https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/state-nations-housing-2020.
98 Id.
99 Heather Voorman, Housing is Infrastructure: Why We Should Make the Case to Congress, Affordable
Housing Fin. (Aug. 20, 2018), https://www.housingfinance.com/news/housing-is-infrastructure-why-we-
should-make-the-case-to-congress_o.
100 Andrea Shalal, Top White House economist defends ‘care economy’ as infrastructure, Reuters (Apr. 6, 2021),
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-infrastructure-care-idUSKBN2BU02A.
101 Laura Dresser finds that 91% of all care workers are female, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reports that women spend nearly twice as much time caring for children in the household as men. Laura
Dresser, Valuing Care by Valuing Care Workers: The Big Cost of a Worthy Standard and Some Steps toward
It, Roosevelt Institute Table 2 (2015), https://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/RI-
Valuing-Care-Workers-201510.pdf; Press Release, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 9. Time adults spent
caring for household children as a primary activity by sex, age, and day of week, average for the combined
years 2015-19 (June 25, 2020), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.t09.htm (last updated June 25,
2020).
102 Julia Wolfe, Jori Kandra, Lora Engdahl, & Heidi Shierholz., Domestic workers chartbook: A comprehensive
look at the demographics, wages, benefits, and poverty rates of the professionals who care for our family
members and clean our homes, Econ. Pol’y Inst. Chart 8 (May 14, 2020), https://www.epi.org/publication/
domestic-workers-chartbook-a-comprehensive-look-at-the-demographics-wages-benefits-and-poverty-
rates-of-the-professionals-who-care-for-our-family-members-and-clean-our-homes/.
24 | TMI Brief | More than Roads and Bridges | tminstituteldf.org103 Elise Gould & Jessica Schieder, An ambitious investment in child care can boost women’s labor force
participation and narrow the gender wage gap, Econ. Pol’y Inst. (April 12, 2016), https://www.epi.org/
publication/an-ambitious-investment-in-child-care-can-boost-womens-labor-force-participation-and-
narrow-the-gender-wage-gap/.
104 Steven Jessen-Howard, Rasheed Malik & MK Falgout, Costly and Unavailable: America Lacks
Sufficient Child Care Supply for Infants and Toddlers, Ctr. Am. Progress (Aug. 4, 2020), https://www.
americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/reports/2020/08/04/488642/costly-unavailable-
america-lacks-sufficient-child-care-supply-infants-toddlers/.
105 Dresser, supra note 101.
106 Sarah Jane Glynn, Breadwinning Mothers Are Increasingly the U.S. Norm, Ctr. Am. Progress (Dec. 19, 2016),
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2016/12/19/295203/breadwinning-mothers-
are-increasingly-the-u-s-norm/.
107 Rachel Martin & James Doubek, Women Left Their Jobs To Be Caregivers. A Business Coalition Wants
Companies To Help, NPR (May 26, 2021), https://www.npr.org/2021/05/26/999952298/women-left-
their-jobs-to-be-caregivers-a-business-coalition-wants-companies-to-h.
108 Author’s analysis of Current Population Survey data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
109 See Jessen-Howard et al., supra note 104.
110 Gould & Schnieder, supra note 103.
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