Social Distancing: Not a long term fix
The Incorrect Assumption that Social Distancing is a Long-term Solution
Yes, for those who have no financial worries, stay-at-home orders offer a special opportunity to spend more time with family, simplify life, engage in hobbies, binge watch TV shows, get ahead at work, and so on. For the vast majority of people in the “real world,” social distancing cannot be our “new normal” into perpetuity. Isolation is simply not sustainable nor realistic—instead a very temporary band-aid, maybe.
As I watch industries try to recreate their entire business models to adjust to social distancing practices, I grow more and more concerned that we are trying to fit a round peg in a square hole. The vast majority of the industries in the hospitality, travel, transportation and live event industries employ hourly workers—they are our backbone to survival, yet they are the most vulnerable in all of this.
Stefanie DeLuca and James Coleman, Professors of Sociology & Social Policy at Johns Hopkins University have this to say about social distancing:
Social distancing will save lives, perhaps. However, the economic costs are staggering. It is well-documented that economic downturns not only cause human suffering due to scarcity, but also lead to health problems and increases in mortality. In short, the virus is lethal; but so is poverty.
In the current climate, this burden is not equally shared. To get a sense of the problem, consider that many low-income workers live hand-to-mouth and are housing and food-insecure even when the economy is roaring. Even before COVID-19 hit, only 61% of all American families had $400 of emergency savings. Many low-income workers are not salaried, but work hourly or on commission/tips.
In the short-run, closure of businesses, lack of work for hourly workers, and layoffs quickly deplete resources of low-income families, making it impossible to meet their most basic of needs. For many low-income parents and children, leaving the house to go to work or attend school provides a safe haven that can ease tensions in overcrowded homes.
Given the uneven burden, a concern is that long-term quarantine or social distancing measures are unsustainable, in part because the costs borne by disadvantaged segments of the population are too brutal. However, it is also clear that the consequences of business-as-usual in the short-term versus long-term must be dealt with.
Right now, we must recognize that we cannot expect the most marginalized among us to bear the greatest costs of social distancing for weeks or months on end. The stimulus bills, at best, buys struggling families time. Don’t forget, those who share this burden are our direct employees, our labor pool. That time is not indefinite. At some point we need to resume normal activity, including being able to serve groups and to congregate.
How do we un-ring this bell? Education is a good start. Rather than cave to the immediate fears surrounding COVID-9 and building permanent policies we all know we can’t afford to do, we must direct our focus on crafting a post-COVID-9 plan that restores service business models to realistic norms. We must work with all industries that also cannot sustain social distancing policies forever. These include much of what feeds our ecosystem in chauffeured transportation—restaurants, lodging, air charter, weddings, meetings/conventions and entertainment.
Sara Eastwood-Richardson
