Combating Extreme Poverty During COVID-19
We usually stick to a strict schedule of releasing episodeson Friday, but this week COVID-19 disrupted even that. For the last month,pervasive coverage of the virus has superseded almost all else. Despite thenon-stop rigmarole, often overlooked groups of Americans—who currently bear thebrunt of the disease—are still ignored. The virus disproportionatelyimpacts minority communities and willlikely devastate low-income people around the world. For many of us, amandatory lockdown is scary, and working from home makes us realize again whyoffices exist. We're thankful that we are safe, and so are our families. Formillions of Americans, however, the disease and correlated economic downturnbring the specters of bankruptcy, eviction, and foreclosure closer than everbefore.
Mila sat down with four leading poverty, homelessness, and bail reform advocates (virtually, of course) to learn how the pandemic has impacted Americans who have faced hardship even before the onslaught of coronavirus. You can listen to the full episode here:
The biggest takeaway we got from our first two guests--UNH professor and poverty expert Stephen Pimare and GiveDirectly Managing Director Joe Huston—was that cash is king. For the week ending March 28, a record-breaking 6.6M Americans filed for unemployment, which doesn’t count many more who weren't even able to apply. The federal government has taken steps to alleviate the burden, increasing unemployment benefits and sending out a $1200 check to many. Still, experts warn that these measures may not be enough. The best way to make sure poor Americans survive is ensuring they have access to cash, and quickly.
"We need to get more money into the hands of morepeople, more quickly," Pimpare said in our conversation. "If we can'tget more money out faster, then we need to stop the outflows in the mostfragile households by eliminating or suspending debt obligations."
As it turns out, providing direct cash infusions createsa ripple effect that stabilizes families and local economies alike. Whilestructured aid such as food or clothing donations help, providing liquid cashto those in need can make an outsize impact on their wellbeing, saysGiveDirectly's Joe Huston.
"The basic rationale for cash, in general, is that it'shard and often expensive to try to guess what other people want versus justgiving them some money and letting them buy what they want," he said."People had different needs and so had different priorities for where theywould put the first thousand dollars that they got."
GiveDirectly has used this approach to combat extremepoverty for more than a decade, with impressive results. Since their inception,they've handed out more than $150 million to families in need. Since thebeginning of this outbreak, they've already helped more than 2000 familiesin the US and distributed more than $2 million.
At Future Hindsight, we stress the importance of being anengaged community member—even when there isn't a virus ravaging the nation.It's more important than ever to be involved now, but it can be hard whenyou're not supposed to leave your house. Instead, consider checking out thework GiveDirectly does and, if you're able, consider helping them by contributing to their COVID-19response effort of giving $1,000 to each household. You can alsoparticipate in a pledgeto pass along any federal assistance you receive.
We can only get through this as a nation by workingtogether, and many Americans can only get through this with the help of others.If you're lucky enough to be still employed or financially secure enough tocover your needs without worry, now is the time to consider giving to those whoaren't.
WORKS CITED
"I Pledge to#PassTheCheck." GiveDirectly, www.givedirectly.org/pass-the-check/.
"COVID-19 EmergencyRelief: Donate Directly to Families in Need." GiveDirectly,www.givedirectly.org/covid-19/.
Aizenman, Nurith."Researchers Find A Remarkable Ripple Effect When You Give Cash To PoorFamilies." NPR, NPR, 2 Dec. 2019,www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/12/02/781152563/researchers-find-a-remarkable-ripple-effect-when-you-give-cash-to-poor-families.
Lobosco, Katie."Millions of Low-Income Americans at Risk of Missing out on StimulusPayments." CNN, Cable News Network, 8 Apr. 2020,www.cnn.com/2020/04/08/politics/americans-left-out-covid-stimulus-payments/index.html.
Luhby, Tami. "Extra$600 Unemployment Benefits Will Start Flowing as Early as This Week for a LuckyFew." CNN, Cable News Network, 7 Apr. 2020,www.cnn.com/2020/04/07/politics/unemployment-benefits-cares-act-covid-pandemic/index.html.
Semuels, Alana. "NewlyUnemployed Are Struggling to Access Stimulus Benefits." Time, Time,8 Apr. 2020, time.com/5816775/coronavirus-unemployment-stimulus/.
"5 Reasons COVID-19Will Impact the Fight to End Extreme Poverty." Global Citizen,www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/how-covid-19-impacts-fight-to-end-extreme-poverty/.
Evelyn, Kenya. "'It'sa Racial Justice Issue': Black Americans Are Dying in Greater Numbers fromCovid-19." The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 Apr. 2020,www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/08/its-a-racial-justice-issue-black-americans-are-dying-in-greater-numbers-from-covid-19.