In a medical sense, Covid-19, as highly contagious as it is, can be thought of as the great leveler. No one has immunity, and we face the health risk of this virus with a sense of our common humanity. But in a socio-economic sense, it is not as contagious. The jobs some of us hold give us economic immunity, and we face the economic risk of this virus with a very different sense of our interconnectedness.
For many families, wage inequality means an insecure standard of living and lower prosperity for the next generation. But if you have a job, even if you need more than one to stay afloat, there is always a sense of hope, a shred of dignity, the aspiration of the American Dream. Income inequality is easier to ignore in a full employment economy. We now have an opportunity for empathy with many people who individually confront risks that repeat over and over during the course of their lives, accumulating bad draws that lead to lower and more precarious incomes, less stable and lower quality housing, and less secure families.
In much of this there is no question of merit and just deserts; it’s just bad luck. Inequality has been robbing many Americans of security, prosperity, and dignity for decades. That is what Covid-19 reveals…
To read the entire article from City University of New York’s Stone Center, click https://stonecenter.gc.cuny.edu/thoughts-from-the-stone-center-on-the-pandemic-and-its-impact/