What The Coronavirus Crisis Means For Those Already Struggling
There was plenty of economic hardship before coronavirus hit. We’ll discuss what the crisis means for people who were already struggling.
Guests
Alissa Quart, executive director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. Author of the 2018 book, “Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America.” (@lisquart)
From The Reading List
Slate: “Gig Economy Workers Are Our Newest First Responders” — “To take a trip to Whole Foods or any major grocery store right now, especially in more affluent areas, is to see dozens of usually young people with baskets and carts staring at their iPhone screens and then searching for black beans or frozen macaroni and cheese. A few wear masks and carry hand sanitizer. They may walk the same aisles more than once—a larger number of items than usual are sold-out at stores.
“These people aren’t buying for themselves, though: They are Instacart shoppers. Their job is to purchase these goods and drive them to strangers who have ordered this food virtually, perhaps out of overwork or laziness but increasingly out of legitimate physical fear of being in crowded social places and catching the virus.
“These low-paid, unsung workers—Instacart shoppers but also the Amazon delivery folks and everyone else who is doing gig work today that helps other people engage in self-protective social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic—are now the equivalent of first responders.”
The Wall Street Journal: “‘I Have Bills I Have to Pay.’ Low-Wage Workers Face Brunt of Coronavirus Crisis” — “As coronavirus shutdowns halt commerce across the U.S., low-wage workers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, are being quickly stung.
“The affected jobs, by their nature, often require broad personal contact, such as running a cash register or cleaning hotel rooms. That substantially raises the risk of infection.
“Many such workers also hold positions most vulnerable to quick job cuts and pay cuts, especially in service industries.
“That includes restaurant workers, hotel maids, dog walkers and child-care providers. In many cases, the cuts are tied to shutdowns and cancellations of events in sports stadiums, industry conventions, casinos, music festivals and other public gatherings.
“The group encompasses many workers who were late beneficiaries of the surge in hiring as the labor market tightened in recent years—including members of minority groups or people with less education and skills—during one of the longest and most lucrative growth phases in U.S. history.”
POLITICO: “Who is most at risk in the coronavirus crisis: 24 million of the lowest-income workers” — “This week, unemployment claims soared as state and federal officials restricted public gatherings and shuttered stores to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. Using wage data from the U.S. Department of Labor and working conditions surveys from O*NET, we analyzed those who are most vulnerable.
“First, we looked at the bottom quarter of earners — people in jobs that pay less than $35,000 a year. Next, we narrowed that list to people who work at an arm’s length or less from others during their regular shifts, according to workforce survey data.
“This group, nearly 24 million people — or about 15 percent of the American workforce — is at the highest risk of suffering injury from the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them are bartenders, paramedics, home health aides, janitors, drivers and more.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org. [Copyright 2020 NPR]
