Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the U.S. economy, with Latinos experiencing a disproportionate impact. Latinos represent a large proportion of workers in many industries that are essential to the economy. As essential workers, they have faced more exposure to COVID-19, resulting in higher rates of infection and mortality. Latino workers have also disproportionately experienced loss of jobs, decreased work hours, and work-related income throughout the country with the largest losses among Latina women workers. In Washington state, while massive job losses have been widespread across industries, their effects have been worse for Latino workers who had lower incomes and higher poverty rates during the pre-pandemic economy, resulting in greater financial vulnerability to the economic shocks of the pandemic. As a result, Latinos have been disproportionately impacted by housing and food insecurity. Since the pandemic began, rates of food insecurity among Latino households with children have risen from 16.8% pre-pandemic to 47%, with recent data showing that this trend is likely to continue.