The solution to the coronavirus pandemic has been nothing short of economic suicide. As this lockdown drags into the second month for most, a new survey is revealing the bleak costs that Americans are paying in order to comply with the government’s commands to shut down the economy.
"Some are saying social distancing is the 'new normal', but we’d beg to differ. The new normal is going to be poverty for most of the country."
Almost 60 percent of Americans say they’d be unable to meet their basic financial needs in one month or less of quarantine, according to a survey. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) surveyed American workers between 12 and 16 March, according to a report by Newsweek. One in five people said they’d no longer be able to afford rent, bills or groceries after just one week of quarantine.
Unfortunately, it’s too late to start preparing for an economic meltdown if you haven’t already. If you don’t have 3-6 months worth of expenses in a savings account or otherwise liquid form, you may already also be experiencing the pain of the government’s solution.
Fifty-eight percent of workers say they won’t be able to pay rent, buy groceries, or take care of essential bills (such as electricity and water) if quarantined for 30 days or less, according to a new survey from the Society for Human Research Management (SHRM) released Wednesday morning. One in five workers said they’d be unable to meet those basic financial needs in less than one week under quarantine.
That’s devastating considering we’ve already been under quarantine for going on four weeks, three weeks for some parts of the country. “This has a real impact on people’s lives and it’s creating a level of stress that cannot be overstated,” said Johnny C. Taylor Jr., the president and CEO of SHRM, noting that many Americans live “right on the margins of paycheck to paycheck.”
Suicide rates have sharply risen, many who have taken their own life have sited fear over Coronavirus or financial worries due to job loss as the reason. Charities have reported a 25% rise in domestic violence, and many more report people contacting them as have been made destitute by the current economic status.
The long term cost of this crisis is likely to hand our children, and our children’s children, an enormous tax bill, something that appears to have escaped mainstream media so far.