After the pandemic started to get worse for some states in the United States, the lockdown caused severe economic disparity, while many businesses declared bankruptcy.
The Trump administration has been trying to handle the situation since the start of the pandemic. The administration is also trying to ensure that the economy does not fall below the line where it becomes intractable.
Recently the administration said that it has no set of plans to get the virus contained. They are only hoping to put their resources in use for coming up with a vaccine. The chief of staff for the White House, Mark Meadows recently said in an interview how they are strategizing in these times.
He said that this is a very dangerous approach, considering that vaccines and cure do not yet exist. With this approach, more people will lose their life when they are put back to work to make the ends meet and the government will do little to help them.
The biggest challenges are for those that belong to the low-income group and those facing structural oppression.
Hence, the administration has clarified that along with the government, people also have to look out for themselves. As the unemployment rate rises each day to higher numbers, the citizens become more reliant on the government for job opportunities.
The US has had to face a very big blow. As before the pandemic, the US was at a new high with their employment rates. The numbers drastically fell as the first wave began. The unemployment rate rose to 14.9%.
A significant number of Black and Latin workers from services and retail sectors got affected badly.
Due to the pandemic, almost a million retail employees have lost their jobs, which have been low paying, to begin with.
When restaurants and supermarkets did start their operations, they are not attracting enough customers. This causes added difficulty for employees who rely on tips or sales commissions.
The least paid workers having little to no emergency savings are now facing the highest unemployment. Since January, the number of jobs for employees earning less than $14 per hour has fallen by 20%.
While people are suffering from unemployment and having to take risky, low-paid jobs to survive, the wealthy are getting wealthier.
