The COVID‐19 Pandemic and Wealth Inequality: An Analysis of Wealth Disparities by Religion and Race

ABSTRACT The COVID‐19 pandemic not only cost the United States more than a million lives, but it also led to seismic labor market shifts and significant wealth changes. Previous literature has found that various factors such as government shutdown policies, business layoffs, and portfolio heterogeneity have increased wealth inequality during the pandemic. This article examines the impact of the pandemic on wealth inequality for population groups broken down by religion and race. Using 2019 and 2021 data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we find that wealth differentials by religious denominations and race existed before and during the pandemic at the mean and along the wealth distribution, and the pandemic somewhat diminished wealth inequality in many of those groups. Our analysis helps create a more holistic understanding of wealth inequality before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic, thus leading to better‐informed research and government policies in the future.