Where Economic Desperation has Emerged
After our first two weeks of interviews, we are seeing two groups that are experiencing extreme economic hardship.
The first is undocumented workers, many of whom have lost jobs in the restaurant or cleaning sectors. Because they are ineligible for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits and other assistance programs, these workers are unable to replace their lost earnings. Some are receiving SNAP benefits for their U.S.-born children, but these benefits are not enough to feed an entire family.
The second is individuals whose sole source of income is approximately $885 per month of SSI plus $194 per month of SNAP. While their income flows have not changed, these individuals were already missing meals because benefit levels are so low, and rising food prices appear to be leading to an increased number of skipped meals during COVID.
In contrast, the UI-eligible job losers in our sample are doing ok for now, as the $600 unemployment insurance supplement means that they have sustained, and in some cases increased, their weekly incomes. The $1200 economic stimulus payment has also made a difference.
Retirees with Social Security benefits or pensions and recipients of Disability Insurance benefits appear to have enough to cover food costs as they have not experienced any change in their income flows, though some of them are now doing more to support children who are out of work. Their challenges in acquiring food come from empty shelves and spiking prices at local markets – and difficulties traveling to larger grocery stores that are further away from their homes and require bus rides that pose infection risk.
In their own words:
“Mucho miedo…sobre todo el pago de la renta…vivimos pensando cómo vamos pagar.” ◾ [“A lot of fear…above all else about rent payment…we live thinking about how we are going to pay.
“Hemos tenido que racionar…en vez de cuatro piernas de pollo ahora solo tres” ◾ [“We have had to ration… instead of four legs of chicken now only three”]
“Necesito volver a trabajo, eso es lo único que nos mantendría tranquilos. Íbamos aplicando en muchos lados para ayuda económica y no hemos tenido respuesta.” ◾ [“I need to get back to work, that is the only thing that would allow us to feel calm. We applied in lots of places for economic support but we haven’t heard a response.”]
Names and some details changed to preserve confidentiality.