Locked Out: Unemployment and Homelessness in the COVID Economy

This report uses estimates from the Congressional Budget Office to project an unemployment scenario for the Pandemic Recession. We go on to use detailed unemployment and homeless data from the 2008 Great Recession to estimate the linkage between unemployment and homelessness and forecast the amount and type of pandemic-driven homelessness in Los Angeles, California and the United States. Then we assess the condition of the housing market and identify steps for preventing evictions and increasing the housing supply. We examine characteristics of workers who are most likely to fall through the cracks of the economy and identify the risk factors that make them vulnerable. Then we describe how employment programs can use their skills to meet public needs.