The coronavirus pandemic has led to a large disruption in economic activity, which has disproportionately harmed workers that rely on in-person interaction in the leisure and hospitality industries. Related businesses include food service, bars, performing arts and spectator sports, and more.1 The figures below use recent data from the Current Population Survey to compare the income and demographics of these workers to those in other industries.2 Compared to workers in other industries, leisure and hospitality workers tend to be lower-income, younger, and less educated. They also tend to be Hispanic, non-white, and female.
Figure 1 shows that about 65 percent of workers in the leisure and hospitality sector are in the bottom two income quintiles. Compared to all other industries, workers in leisure and hospitality are about twice as likely to be in the lowest income quintile and 68 percent more likely to be in the second income quintile.
Source: Current Population Survey — Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS - ASEC) (2017 - 2019), IPUMS-CPS, University of Minnesota, https://ipums.org/.
Note: For example, 36.4 percent of leisure and hospitality workers fall in the bottom 20 percent of the income distribution (first quintile), while 18.3 percent of workers in all other industries fall in the first quintile.
This difference in incomes coincides with differences in several demographic variables:3
Figure 2 shows that leisure and hospitality workers tend to be younger than their peers in other industries. Roughly 43 percent of leisure and hospitality workers are under the age of 30, compared to 21 percent of those in other industries. Younger workers are more likely to be low-income due to lifecycle effects, which explains some but not all of the difference in incomes. Additionally, low-income and younger workers are both less likely to have emergency savings.
Source: Current Population Survey — Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS - ASEC) (2017 - 2019), IPUMS-CPS, University of Minnesota, https://ipums.org/.
Note: For example 3.3 percent of leisure and hospitality workers are age 25, while 2.2 percent of workers in all other industries are age 25.
Figure 3 shows that leisure and hospitality workers tend to have fewer years of education than their peers in other industries. About half of workers in leisure and hospitality industries have a high school degree or less, compared to less than a third of those in other industries. Less-educated workers are at greater risk of unemployment and have lower expected future earnings.
Source: Current Population Survey — Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS - ASEC) (2017 - 2019), IPUMS-CPS, University of Minnesota, https://ipums.org/.
Note: For example 14 percent of leisure and hospitality workers have less than a high school education, while 7 percent of workers in all other industries have less than a high school education.
Additionally, leisure and hospitality workers are less likely to be white, more likely to be Hispanic, and more likely to be female. About 24 percent of leisure and hospitality workers are Hispanic and 54 percent are white, compared to about 17 percent and 64 percent, respectively, of workers in other industries. More than half of leisure and hospitality workers are female compared to 46 percent of those in other industries.
The significance of the leisure and hospitality sector in state-level economies varies considerably. Figure 4 shows that most states have between six and 11 percent of their workforces in leisure and hospitality industries, but two states stand out: Hawaii, with about 16 percent of its workforce in leisure and hospitality, and Nevada with about 21 percent. These states with high shares of leisure and hospitality employment can be expected to see greater immediate losses in economic activity.
Source: Current Population Survey — Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS - ASEC) (2017 - 2019), IPUMS-CPS, University of Minnesota, https://ipums.org/.
Although the coronavirus pandemic will have widespread health and economic costs, businesses and workers in leisure and hospitality might see disproportionate disruption and hardship. Our above analysis shows that workers in these industries are more likely to be in demographic groups that were already lower income and less educated before coronavirus. Additionally, certain states’ workforces are more heavily concentrated in the leisure and hospitality sector.
More information on the living arrangements of leisure and hospitality workers.
Austin Herrick conducted this analysis, and Kody Carmody wrote this report, under the supervision of Diane Lim and Richard Prisinzano. Mariko Paulson produced the charts for the PWBM website.
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We use “leisure and hospitality” as defined in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ leisure and hospitality supersector, consisting of Census industry codes 8560, 8570, 8580, 8590, 8660, 8670, 8680, and 8690. ↩
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Current Population Survey — Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS - ASEC) (2017 - 2019), IPUMS-CPS, University of Minnesota, https://ipums.org/. ↩
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Due to sample size concerns, we don't tabulate across categories and cannot say how much of the variation in income is explained by demographics. ↩
Age,Other Industries,Hospitality Industry 18,0.00608866366,0.0471718338 19,0.00877199941,0.04058559693 20,0.0123207157,0.04357247516 21,0.01503678865,0.04278814863 22,0.01652630172,0.03871785833 23,0.01868180227,0.03815489098 24,0.0198889555,0.03495738128 25,0.02157081461,0.03310690621 26,0.0228670867,0.03033004752 27,0.02302643454,0.03168828048 28,0.02359769224,0.02534432206 29,0.02392507464,0.02477030827 30,0.02370490347,0.02370662852 31,0.02291031817,0.02252045088 32,0.02270610145,0.02172959945 33,0.02214432623,0.01980838101 34,0.02198032732,0.02045107236 35,0.02182069431,0.02150582364 36,0.02259381553,0.01776947014 37,0.02278625071,0.0174550206 38,0.02303649776,0.01750373241 39,0.02134424436,0.01631679837 40,0.02144764396,0.0162872183 41,0.02096709719,0.01529033641 42,0.02089908028,0.01570964669 43,0.02040459643,0.01433757195 44,0.02024973722,0.01374822096 45,0.02064023146,0.01364287087 46,0.02207665008,0.01615809418 47,0.02216065599,0.01600684826 48,0.02195412052,0.01576542284 49,0.02159476504,0.01543857199 50,0.02115221346,0.01485065528 51,0.02073792355,0.01447083972 52,0.02104649795,0.01502369453 53,0.02215457093,0.01381679925 54,0.02121851133,0.0109398073 55,0.02100112528,0.01333824557 56,0.02090102824,0.01302860371 57,0.01969645255,0.01335680096 58,0.02000692794,0.01150988899 59,0.01939606285,0.009928261819 60,0.01802550748,0.01024118288 61,0.01676318323,0.009829577044 62,0.015359465,0.009745574348 63,0.01383013816,0.007912664814 64,0.01201665155,0.006951975042 65,0.009880982442,0.004693116126 66,0.008186522191,0.004537867295 67,0.007476834829,0.004232077474 68,0.006204458507,0.003885016081 69,0.005592702312,0.00356182731 70,0.004913429754,0.003442482376 71,0.003861424057,0.002483359963 72,0.00347917675,0.001681637352 73,0.002675203916,0.002409333543 74,0.002447801244,0.001992803822 75,0.00201089269,0.001324988362 76,0.001711530498,0.001015720998 77,0.001495794146,0.001147991732 78,0.001138547031,0.001090636151 79,0.0009718611599,0.0005624502559 80,0.0006702655639,0.0005450708712 81,0.0007578008901,0.0004133578063 82,0.0007224845342,0.0003378688612 83,0.0006234145101,0.0002827730528 84,0.0004616479048,0.0005009143935 85,0.0002865879875,0.0004589311806 86,0.0001973075658,0.00037644673 87,0.0002037227614,0.0003997540768 88,0.0001471169593,0.0001733150508 89,0.0001646227712,0.0001103981593 90,0.0006872203773,0.001055460235
StateOfResidence,Hospitality Industry Utah,0.06073436477 Wisconsin,0.06511069649 North Dakota,0.06587867974 Iowa,0.0710324231 Pennsylvania,0.07118611822 New Jersey,0.07307018946 Alabama,0.07376443854 Missouri,0.07447070788 Indiana,0.07501718698 Connecticut,0.07545719755 South Dakota,0.07672315989 Arkansas,0.07707586605 Kentucky,0.07836184304 Kansas,0.07842677221 Alaska,0.07868958568 New Hampshire,0.07901519877 Virginia,0.0794266002 Idaho,0.07959213301 South Carolina,0.07967191465 Georgia,0.07982595994 North Carolina,0.08015650455 Texas,0.08063310645 Maine,0.08064814644 Nebraska,0.08078150268 West Virginia,0.08116940808 Minnesota,0.08122102525 Ohio,0.08177945753 Rhode Island,0.0829418676 Massachusetts,0.08331331956 Wyoming,0.08357982309 Oklahoma,0.08602714471 Tennessee,0.08609412052 Michigan,0.08739866279 Mississippi,0.08773726387 Illinois,0.08775970428 Arizona,0.08813877303 Delaware,0.0881858545 Maryland,0.08850677962 New York,0.08933152431 Vermont,0.09079247823 Colorado,0.09151033019 Oregon,0.09469895286 District of Columbia,0.09514516274 Washington,0.09726379232 California,0.09774998881 Louisiana,0.1026297358 Montana,0.1031915071 Florida,0.1073026598 New Mexico,0.1111855108 Hawaii,0.1579209613 Nevada,0.2118525113
Education,Other Industries,Hospitality Industry 0,0.06650005082,0.1391728286 1,0.2587562008,0.3525766171 2,0.277045713,0.3064024386 3,0.2491231727,0.1646191049 4,0.1485748627,0.0372290108
Education,Hospitality Industry 0,0.1665551706 1,0.1151305849 2,0.09551885086 3,0.05935285796 4,0.02336770318
Race,Other Industries,Hospitality Industry Black,0.1212437202,0.1338064168 Other,0.006776654562,0.01107345737 Hispanic,0.1650484808,0.2388882829 Asian,0.06396753413,0.07163656481 White,0.6429636103,0.5445952781
MetropolitanStatus,Other Industries,Hospitality Industry Central City,0.285834056,0.33877189 Outside Central City,0.462236501,0.427198585 Not In A Metropolitan Area,0.117861502,0.100874425
Gender,Hospitality Industry Female,0.09395339465 Male,0.08120428082
IncomeQuintile,Other Industries,Hospitality Industry Bottom Quintile,0.1826502645,0.3636141129 Second Quintile,0.1772753887,0.2972702129 Middle Quintile,0.2184410187,0.1811689065 Fourth Quintile,0.2078957406,0.09743861847 Top Quintile,0.2137375875,0.06050814916
IncomeQuintile,Bottom Quintile,Second Quintile,Middle Quintile,Fourth Quintile,Top Quintile Other Industries,0.1826502645,0.1772753887,0.2184410187,0.2078957406,0.2137375875 Hospitality Industry,0.3636141129,0.2972702129,0.1811689065,0.09743861847,0.06050814916
Education,Less than High School,High School,Some College,College,Graduate/Professional Degree Other Industries,0.06650005082,0.2587562008,0.277045713,0.2491231727,0.1485748627 Hospitality Industry,0.1391728286,0.3525766171,0.3064024386,0.1646191049,0.0372290108