| Description |
Access to the American Dream is always dependent, at least partially, on factors an individual cannot control such as race and the residence location and Socioeconomic Status (SES) of their parents/caregivers. Access is also dependent on government policy. Under the New Deal for example, the Home Loan Owners Corporation (HOLC) implemented redlining, a race-based mortgage default area risk assessment. Redlining, together with a number of other discriminatory housing policies, resulted in certain areas and individuals being barred from resources, opportunity, and wealth. Owning a house is the primary source of intergenerational wealth. Policies restricting or providing access to individuals for homeownership has lasting intergenerational effects. Redlining has been shown to impact several factors, including SES and access to resources and health care services. This study demonstrates that redlining has impacted COVID-19 case counts in Salt Lake County, Utah. Areas which were, under the New Deal HOLC program in the 1930s, assigned an unfavorable redline grade (C or D) due to containing an "undesirable population," have had, in the current pandemic, a 3% to 4% higher COVID-19 case rate than areas assigned a favorable grade (A or B) or were not redlined. Additionally, areas which contain a higher percentage of redlining were found to have a higher percentage of COVID-19 cases (15% for each additional percent redlined). Salt Lake County redlined areas were also found to be segregated to some degree in terms of educational attainment, income, access to health resources, and race. Educational attainment and income were found to impact the percentage of COVID-19 cases. This study concludes that there is an important link between redlining, redline grade, and the COVID-19 cases rate in Salt Lake County areas. |
