Work

Pandemic precarity: COVID-19 is exposing and exacerbating inequalities in the American heartland

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: = 994) from the Person to Person Health Interview Study, fielded in 2019-2020 and again during Indiana's initial stay-at-home order, we provide a representative, probability-based assessment of adverse economic outcomes of the pandemic. Survey-weighted multivariate regressions, controlling for preexisting inequality, find Black adults over 3 times as likely as Whites to report food insecurity, being laid off, or being unemployed. Residents without a college degree are twice as likely to report food insecurity (compared to some college), while those not completing high school (compared to bachelor's degree) are 4 times as likely to do so. Younger adults and women were also more likely to report economic hardships. Together, the results support contentions of a Matthew Effect, where pandemic precarity disproportionately affects historically disadvantaged groups, widening inequality. Strategically deployed relief efforts and longer-term policy reforms are needed to challenge the perennial and unequal impact of disasters.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2020685118

Authors: Brea L. Perry, Brian Aronson, Bernice A. Pescosolido

Institutions: Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University

Language: English

Topic: Employment and Welfare Studies

Subfield: General Health Professions

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, No poverty, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Indiana University Bloomington