Read on Twitter
Growing discussion about the differential impacts of the pandemic. In the US, I'm hearing about 4 levels:
1 - The owning class are retreating into their (summer) homes, w everything they want on hand or delivered. They'll fret over their stocks but their chance of getting sick is low and they'll have the best care if they do, so won't suffer much. https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-rich-drawbridges-7567f493-1bed-494e-926c-be897823a706.html
2 - The professional class (top ~10%) are working from home, getting goods delivered or going out sparingly. My family's in this group. Having a kid means struggling to balance without the childcare we've relied on. Our incomes will dip. But on the whole, we'll be okay.
3 - The working poor (75%?) will be out of work and/or face COVID risk from keeping the economy running through the crisis. Neither is a great outcome. If they get sick, they're facing a double crisis of being out of work plus medical bills. https://twitter.com/jiejennyzou/status/1246287175840411648
4 - Lastly, the poorest, homeless, and incarcerated (15%?) will be hit hardest. When you don't have access to good housing or services, or when you're locked in an institutional setting, the disease risks go up dramatically—as does the impact of strained public service budgets.
You could split it in a more nuanced way, but typically what I'm seeing/hearing is less distinction—eg #2 being lumped in with either #1 or #3, and #4 being forgotten entirely. That's not only unhelpful from a policy perspective, it's immoral.
Worth noting that similar splits exist in other countries, but with different impacts and proportions (eg greater safety net for #3 and 4 in European social democracies).
We need near-term policies to blunt the impacts, and long-term policies to shift the proportions.
We need near-term policies to blunt the impacts, and long-term policies to shift the proportions.
Was just coming back to add this point: the racial dimension across 1-4 means a racial dimension to the pandemic’s impact.
https://twitter.com/msrlocke/status/1246521405040033792?s=21 https://twitter.com/msrlocke/status/1246521405040033792
https://twitter.com/msrlocke/status/1246521405040033792?s=21 https://twitter.com/msrlocke/status/1246521405040033792
