Charts of the Week: Biden-won counties; China trade with US allies; hazard pay for workers

In this edition of Charts of the Week: the population of Biden vs. Trump counties; China and U.S. allies; hazard pay for frontline workers.

Joe Biden’s popular vote margin over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election exceeded 7 million votes, but William Frey observes that 67 million more people live in the 551 counties that Biden won versus the 2,588 counties Trump won. “It is important to note,” Frey writes, “that the total population in these counties includes nonvoters, such as children, noncitizens, and others who did not vote in November. Nonetheless, these residents still reflect the communities in which they live.”

Lindsey Ford and James Goldgeier write that while the United States and its allies are in a “strong position” to confront the rising China challenge, “U.S. allies are not of one mind regarding their relationships with China.” The chart above, for example, shows how America’s allies in Europe and Asia have increased their trade with China over the last 15 years. “Looking ahead,” Ford and Goldgeier write, “the United States and its allies must begin to confront the task of deterring Chinese coercion — both military and economic — as a multilateral task.”

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, millions of frontline grocery and retail workers have remained on the job, risking their health but often without increased compensation for the increased hazard, despite sometimes record profits their employers have enjoyed. Molly Kinder and Laura Stateler document new hazard pay ordinances in California and Seattle that aim to boost workers’ pay, especially in companies where even temporary hazard pay expired months ago. “These large grocery companies have the means—and the moral imperative—to provide their workers hazard pay,” they argue. “With the new mandates, however, local governments are signaling that not only should these companies provide hazard pay, but they must.”