While COVID-19 has impacted all individuals, the impact has not been equal. In a new national Socioeconomic Impact of COVID-19 survey, the (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis found that liquid assets increased the likelihood that an individual could practice social distancing.
鈥淪ocial distancing is a privilege that comes with resources and wealth, but wealth is not distributed equally in America,鈥� said Michal Grinstein-Weiss, the Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor and director of the SPI. 鈥淲ealth gives individuals agency to make choices, like social distancing, that keep themselves and their families healthy.鈥�
The SPI interviewed approximately 5,500 respondents from all 50 U.S. states from April 27 to May 12.
鈥淟ower liquid assets leave people in a position of choosing income over social distance safety,鈥� Grinstein-Weiss said. 鈥淎s money increases, affordability to social distance increases.鈥�
Survey respondents also revealed other significant loss and hardships as a result of the pandemic. The survey found that:
- Low- and moderate-income households delayed major housing payments and health care;
- Hispanic/Latinx homeowners were more than twice as likely (14.1%) to be evicted than Non-Hispanic White (6.4%) and five times as likely as Non-Hispanic Black (2.6%) homeowners, despite moratoriums on some evictions;
- Hispanic/Latinx (27%) and low-income individuals (29%) were most affected by job loss;
- One in three gig workers reported working less as a result of the pandemic, and 86% of those individuals said gig income was essential or important to their household budget; and
- 34% of people who lost their job reported food insecurity.
鈥淲hile it鈥檚 too early to draw conclusions about long-term impacts of the virus, we know that it鈥檚 exacerbating situations for households already experiencing financial vulnerability, wealth inequalities and health inequities,鈥� Grinstein-Weiss said.
The data was presented during a virtual event titled 鈥�,鈥� co-hosted with the Center for Household Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Data suggest that the pandemic may exacerbate underlying inequalities, Grinstein-Weiss said.
鈥淯nderstanding the wealth gap is important, but more critically we need to design policies that enable people to build wealth as the economy recovers,鈥� she said.