As the rapid spread of COVID-19 disproportionately devastates black communities across the country, African Americans in the hair care business say stay-at-home orders and social distancing has crushed an industry which relies solely on clientele for a steady income.
In 2017, black consumers spent a total of $473 million in a $4.2 billion hair care industry, according to Nielsen, and in 2018 the black hair care market was valued at $2.5 billion, Mintel, a market research company, reported.As states begin to reopen their economies, African American hair stylists, who are often classified as freelancers or independent contractors, still face challenges.
Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis."It's been a financial adjustment, what I receive in unemployment for a week, I can make in a day or two," said Signature Image Salon hairstylist and colorist, Cierra Curenton, who works in Washington, D.C."I'm single, so I have no one to help carry the financial burden.
MORE: Rushed reopening US comes at 'expense of poor and low-income working people': Reverend Dr. William Barber says
Why is this important?
It’s crushing everyone not only African Americans - why is everything about race ?
It’s going to take a while before a lot of people are comfortable going out
Get a haircut. Suffocate to death a week later. Bad tradeoff.