Study: Ohio would gain $79 billion annually if racial disparities were removed| Opinion
Carrie Almasi is the director of assessment and planning for the Health Policy Institute of Ohio.
If every Ohioan had the opportunity to live a healthy life and fully participate in the state’s economy, our state and all of its residents would benefit.
Not only would Ohioans enjoy greater quality of life and well-being, but we could also unlock the state’s economic potential to grow our workforce, increase consumer spending, strengthen our communities and reduce fiscal pressure on state and local budgets.
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Unfortunately, opportunities for health and economic stability are not currently available to all Ohioans.
While everyone should be able to feed their families healthy food, prevent major illnesses by accessing regular health care and achieve the dream of economic security, there are differences in outcomes across groups of Ohioans.
These disparities persist for Ohioans of color because they often face barriers to health, employment and career advancement that are rooted in centuries of systemic injustice.
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For example, Black and Latino Ohioans are more likely to encounter barriers to employment and wage growth, such as a lack of affordable transportation and uneven access to training needed for career advancement, resulting in incomes that are, on average, less than two-thirds the incomes of white Ohioans.
These same barriers affect the health and well-being of communities of color, contributing to health disparities and premature death associated with more than 135,000 years of life lost annually.
Beyond the substantial impacts on people and communities of color across Ohio, these disparities represent missed economic opportunities for Ohio businesses, governments and communities.
New analysis from the Health Policy Institute of Ohio found that if we eliminate racial disparities by 2050, Ohio could grow its economy by 10% to gain $79 billion in economic output each year.
That's more than the current gross domestic product of two-thirds of the countries in the world.
In addition to growing the size of Ohio’s economy, eliminating disparities would also enable the state to gain:
$40 billion more in total income
$30 billion more in consumer spending
$4 billion more in state and local sales tax revenues
$3 billion in reduced healthcare spending
$2 billion in increased employee productivity
$821 million in reduced corrections spending
In 2020, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, along with dozens of local governments, declared racism a public health crisis, acknowledging the severe negative impact that racism has on the health and well-being of our communities. Countless Ohio businesses followed suit.
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The good news is that, in the years since, many leaders in both the public and private sector have taken steps to eliminate racism and racial disparities. There is, however, room to do more to advance public and private collaboration and motivate action.
Ohioans from all sectors, communities and backgrounds can take meaningful steps, such as the following, to support the well-being of every Ohioan and maximize everyone’s potential to contribute:
Implement and assess policies and programs that promote justice and fairness
Increase accountability for eliminating disparities in outcomes
Increase equitable access to financing, support and business resources for entrepreneurs from systematically disadvantaged communities
At a time when Ohio’s leaders, like others across the country, are looking for ways to grow the state’s workforce, increase consumer spending and reduce fiscal pressures on state and local budgets, the Health Policy Institute of Ohio’s analysis shows that eliminating racial disparities should be a priority.
If we fail to act, Ohio will continue leaving billions of dollars on the table in income, consumer spending, tax revenues, employee productivity and excess healthcare and government spending each year.
Carrie Almasi is the director of assessment and planning for the Health Policy Institute of Ohio. Almasi was the lead author on the Health Policy Institute of Ohio’s report, “Unlocking Ohio’s economic potential: The impact of eliminating racial disparities on Ohio businesses, governments and communities.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What impact are racial disparities having on Ohio economy?
