With Guest Co-Author Susan Gunn
The pandemic has served to highlight the income inequality and poverty in the United States. Both are caused by unjust minimum wage, unequal pay for women and people of color, high rates of unemployment and incarceration, and other unfair practices and policies. According to the Pew Research Center, the wealth gap between America’s richest and poorer families more than doubled from 1989 to 2016.
The U.S. middle class, which once comprised the clear majority of Americans, is shrinking. Thus, a greater share of the nation’s aggregate income is now going to upper-income households and the share going to middle- and lower-income households is falling.
COVID-19 is having a clearly disparate impact on the Black community.
The U.S. middle class, which once comprised the clear majority of Americans, is shrinking. Thus, a greater share of the nation’s aggregate income is now going to upper-income households and the share going to middle- and lower-income households is falling.
COVID-19 is having a clearly disparate impact on the Black community.
According to a New York Times article, Black people account for 25 percent of those who have tested positive and 39 percent of the COVID-related deaths, while making up just 15 percent of the general population.
This is largely due to environmental, economic and political factors that have compounded for generations, putting Black people at higher risk of chronic conditions that leave lungs weak and immune systems compromised: asthma, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. Redlining and environmental racism, for example, have consigned Black neighborhoods to breathing some of America’s dirtiest air, drinking contaminated water, and living in food deserts.
The current recession is hitting women harder than men. According to Forbes, “Women feel the economic downturn more acutely than men. Even among women, there are disproportionate effects by race, ethnicity age and marital status. Those groups of women, who have experienced the sharpest labor market downturn, also tend to be the ones most financially vulnerable. The recession illustrates systematic differences that often stem from outright gender discrimination, resulting in fewer and worse job opportunities than is the case for men. They often work for low pay with few benefits and thus have few savings and cannot rely on a spouse’s earnings to help them pay their bills. In addition, many women, especially women of color, are the primary breadwinners in their families. The disproportionate job losses among women, especially women of color, will not mean hardship for families such as hunger right now, but that pain will persist for a long time, even if jobs return in the near future.”
In poor countries, the pandemic has wrecked fragile economies already burdened by debt, overreliance on extractive projects, and unjust trade agreements. Millions of people have been pushed into extreme poverty. As in the 2009 swine flu pandemic, rich countries may well crowd out poor countries for access to vaccines. The poor countries will receive the vaccines later and will be unable to cover many of their citizens.
We need to respond to this crisis with a long-term commitment to support workers, state governments, and small businesses. As a matter of justice, we need to focus our help on those workers and communities of color who are bearing the brunt of the crisis.
The economic pain is not evenly shared. In 1980, the wealthiest one percent garnered 10 percent of the national income. Today they amass 20 percent! Rather than focus on this issue, the Administration is attempting to dismantle the Affordable Care Act which would leave people with nowhere to turn.
This is largely due to environmental, economic and political factors that have compounded for generations, putting Black people at higher risk of chronic conditions that leave lungs weak and immune systems compromised: asthma, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. Redlining and environmental racism, for example, have consigned Black neighborhoods to breathing some of America’s dirtiest air, drinking contaminated water, and living in food deserts.
The current recession is hitting women harder than men. According to Forbes, “Women feel the economic downturn more acutely than men. Even among women, there are disproportionate effects by race, ethnicity age and marital status. Those groups of women, who have experienced the sharpest labor market downturn, also tend to be the ones most financially vulnerable. The recession illustrates systematic differences that often stem from outright gender discrimination, resulting in fewer and worse job opportunities than is the case for men. They often work for low pay with few benefits and thus have few savings and cannot rely on a spouse’s earnings to help them pay their bills. In addition, many women, especially women of color, are the primary breadwinners in their families. The disproportionate job losses among women, especially women of color, will not mean hardship for families such as hunger right now, but that pain will persist for a long time, even if jobs return in the near future.”
In poor countries, the pandemic has wrecked fragile economies already burdened by debt, overreliance on extractive projects, and unjust trade agreements. Millions of people have been pushed into extreme poverty. As in the 2009 swine flu pandemic, rich countries may well crowd out poor countries for access to vaccines. The poor countries will receive the vaccines later and will be unable to cover many of their citizens.
We need to respond to this crisis with a long-term commitment to support workers, state governments, and small businesses. As a matter of justice, we need to focus our help on those workers and communities of color who are bearing the brunt of the crisis.
The economic pain is not evenly shared. In 1980, the wealthiest one percent garnered 10 percent of the national income. Today they amass 20 percent! Rather than focus on this issue, the Administration is attempting to dismantle the Affordable Care Act which would leave people with nowhere to turn.
In terms of managing the coronavirus itself and the health, social and economic consequences of the pandemic, we now look to the new Administration and new Congress for the following:
- proposals for closing the wealth gap;
- plans for a national paid family/sick leave program;
- plans to ensure that all U.S. residents have access to quality, affordable healthcare; and
- assistance to impoverished countries
Blog Co-author Susan Gunn has served as director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns since 2018, first joining the staff in 2012. She has previous overseas experience in both China and India, and holds a Master’s degree in International Development Management from American University.
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