For some, the COVID-19 pandemic is an inconvenience, says a former Lehman Brothers executive. For others, it’s life and death.
Inequality is nothing new in America, but the coronavirus pandemic has ruthlessly laid bare just how fractured our society is.
Some people are able to easily work from home ― articles welcome the “cozy catastrophe” and the new digital happy hours where we sip “quarantinis” with friends. Meanwhile, underpaid essential workers on the frontlines of this emergency are risking their health every day to keep us safe and fed. And for a very large portion of society, this pandemic means they are unable to pay rent or bills.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the United States reached 6.6 million on April 2 as companies continue to close and lay off employees. Mothers are skipping meals to feed their children while young people are dying of the coronavirus because they don’t have health insurance.
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