Imagine the population of Sunnyvale, California suddenly, in just four months' time, wiped off the map -- the entire population gone. As of late July 2020, over 149,000 lives have been lost to the coronavirus in the United States alone, roughly the population of Sunnyvale. Yet numbers are entirely insufficient when it comes to measuring human lives. Each one of these people greeted the morning in their own way, loved and were loved by many, had a favorite meal.
This comes with an enormous social toll -- grief from the loss of loved ones and loneliness. Mental health professionals are bracing for the impact that unemployment, social isolation and uncertainty about the future will bring, with rates of anxiety and depression increasing. Educators expect significant learning loss, in what is being called a “COVID Slide”, and students will be returning to an uncertain environment where masks may be required and recess banned.
The human and social toll is staggering. At the same time, the pandemic has sparked an economic recession. Unemployment figures have reached levels that exceed the worst of the Great Recession, and poverty rates are forecasted to increase by as much as 21 million individuals. In the Bay Area, 53% of households have seen a loss of employment income. In San Francisco, predictions are that up to half of all restaurants will close permanently, not to mention stores, salons, and other small businesses.
While everyone is impacted, some communities are suffering far more than others.
Black and Latinx people are contracting and dying from the virus at vastly disproportionate rates. Low-income populations are less likely to be able to work from home, increasing their risk of exposure by going to jobs often considered essential. Women have suffered the majority of job losses. People who were already living paycheck to paycheck before the pandemic are the most likely to have seen their jobs or hours cut.
COVID-19 did not cause these inequities. Rather it has shined a light on deeply entrenched racial, gender and economic inequality that existed in our society.
These inequities have been abundantly clear for a long time to those who suffer the brunt of the impact. But for those who enjoy the benefits of the current system, this moment has exposed these problems to daylight. More people are joining together to say, this is not OK. For example, weeks of sustained national protests over police brutality against Black people suggests that a broader swath of the population is waking up to systemic racism and saying, we must change.
In this theme we will focus on the pervasive economic inequities that are both cause and effect of the health, educational, and other disparities that COVID has laid bare like never before. Our central question we seek to answer is:
How can we support pandemic recovery
while rebuilding a more inclusive and resilient economy?
Rather than a return to “normal,” this moment is an opportunity to reimagine our society and build back a better, more equitable one. As Arundhati Roy wrote, “Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.”
Our Focus
In this theme, Battery Powered will address immediate needs of Bay Area families and communities hardest hit by the pandemic, while building the voices and movements that can guide us toward a stronger, more inclusive economy going forward. Our focus areas are:
Relief. Government assistance has left many people out or far short of what they need to weather the economic hardship caused by the pandemic. Philanthropy can fill gaps for those underserved by existing programs. We can also play a role in meeting the most basic of needs, which more and more people are struggling to afford. For example, food insecurity has risen dramatically: 35% of families with children do not have enough food to eat.
Rebuild. Our policies can value and care for people in a more inclusive and equitable way. Meaningful wages, paid leave, affordable child care, and other evidence-based policy solutions provide dignity and opportunity for more people and resilience for families when hardship arises. Building back better requires that we lift up voices and solutions from the communities most disadvantaged by the current economic model.
RESOURCES
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Accessed 11 July 2020.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Household Pulse Survey. Accessed 8 July 2020.
- Brookings Institute. The Impact of COVID on Student Achievement and what it may mean for Educators. May 2020.
- National Bureau of Economic Research. Determination of the February 2020 Peak in US Economic Activity. June 2020.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Civilian Unemployment Rate. Accessed 8 July 2020.
- Parolin, Z; Wimer, C. Columbia University. Forecasting Estimates of Poverty during the COVID -19 Crisis. April 2020.
- Eater, San Francisco. How many San Francisco restaurants will the coronavirus crisis permanently close? May 2020.
- New York Times. The Fullest Look Yet at Racial Inequality of Coronavirus. July 2020.
- Economic Policy Institute. Not everyone can work from home.
- California Budget & Policy Center. California Job Losses are Concentrated in Industries with Low Average Weekly Earnings. May 2020.
- Roy, A. Financial Times. The Pandemic is a Portal. April 2020.
- Brookings Institute. The COVID-19 Crisis has already left too many children hungry in America. May 2020.