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But where does the Delta Variant leave poor creatives?
As the summer is slowly winding down, the Delta Variant is increasingly spreading throughout the nation. According to CNN reports, “More than 98% of US residents now live in an area with a “high” or “substantial” risk of Covid-19 community transmission — up from only 19% a month ago.”
We witnessed the economic impacts of COVID-19 in 2020, now with the Delta Variant wave where does that leave low-income communities in America?
Not to mention freelancing creatives…
Will the Delta Variant dish out similar hardships?
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ “The COVID Hardships Watch ” report mentions “millions still report that their households did not get enough to eat or are not caught up on rent payments.”
According to the report, a little under 28 percent of adult renters said it was difficult to cover expenses back in early July. A over 14 percent of adult renter households said they weren’t caught up on rent while over 7% of them said they do not have enough to eat.
The Urban Institute, released a report last month called the “2021 Poverty Projections: Assessing the Impact of Benefits and Stimulus Measures” which projects the poverty outcomes this year.
The report stated that “ The projected poverty rates are lowest for children (5.6 percent), higher for adults ages 18 to 64 (8.1 percent), and highest for people age 65 and older (9.2 percent).”
The report included the radical disparities among Black Americans, Latinx, Asian Americans Pacific Islander, AAPIs. The report also mentions that “The combined [governement] benefits have the largest impact on children, reducing their projected 2021 poverty rate 81 percent relative to what it would be without any benefits (from 30.1 percent to 5.6 percent).”
Will that stimulus check ever hit the same way again?
The stimulus package was the thing that kept many Americans afloat last year. There hasn’t been much talk on Capitol Hill of another stimulus check although many states are putting back COVID restrictions as well as some schools going back to virtual after a Covid-19 outbreak.
The Center on Poverty & Social Policy at Columbia University has been tracking US poverty rates Monthly. The most recent update to this was in May it was over 10 percent for those with COVID relief resources, while it was over 15 percent for those who did not receive the resources.
These were the monthly numbers before these recent major spikes of the delta variant in the U.S. If the number continues to rise and another shutdown comes our way, the key things to keep us float by are these government-issued resources.
Many Americans are still struggling through the pandemic and the predictions for this upcoming don’t look too promising.
The U.S Census Bureau created the Household Pulse Survey which is in week 34 as of recent. This survey was created, “To produce data on the social and economic effects of coronavirus on American households.” This weekly survey captures real-time data on the experiences Americans are having in this pandemic.
Are the stats are stacked against lower-income communities?
The average American household income in 2019 was $64,324 per year.
As you can see in Figures 2 and 3 those who are making less than $50k per year, the working class, are the ones that are ones experiencing income loss and worried about mortgage payments.
Understanding how COVID-19 impacts low-income communities it is clear, that this Delta Variant can lead to another wave of Americans in economic distress.
Low-income Americans are the most vulnerable population to not only the virus but to the many levels of hardships, that this pandemic has brought us. They are the people that will be impacted the most by this Delta Variant, and who are experiencing the brunt force of economic destitution.