Episode 20 - Kristen's Notes on COVID-19 and Inequality

For this episode, we were joined by the brilliant Alix Jansen. Alix is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University of Toronto. Her work focuses on welfare states and the political economy of skills in advanced industrial democracies. Alix did a lot of preparation for this episode. And she was kind enough to send us her notes! We wanted to give those notes the attention that they deserve, so we gave them their own research note. Check them out by clicking here.

Alix’s Bio

Alix Jansen is a PhD Candidate and a Connaught International Scholarship holder at the University of Toronto. She specializes in the study of welfare states and the political economy of skills in advanced industrial democracies. She contributes to the research outputs of Future Skills Canada and the Innovation Policy Lab at the University of Toronto. A former Fulbright Scholar, she has international experience in interview-based research concerning work and the welfare state. Her dissertation project focuses on the distribution of retraining to unemployed workers in Canada, the US, Denmark, and the Netherlands. She has also worked as a Senior Advisor for the Ministry of Social Development in New Zealand, where she specialized in operational policy and active labour market policy.

COVID-19 and Existing Inequalities

Pandemics have a way of revealing the problems and weaknesses in society. What are some issues that come to your mind when you think of the inequalities that COVID-19 is exposing? Themes: age, gender, race, economic inequality.

One of the things you said when we were preparing for this episode was that the axes of inequality become clearer when we look at the effects of the pandemic at work. Can you explain what you meant by that?

Is there a particular story or moment that sticks out in your mind when it comes to the unequal way that COVID-19 is affecting people?

White Collar Quarantine

Let’s break down the concept of white collar quarantine a bit. First, class plays a role in who gets to stay at home during the pandemic. Can you talk a bit more about that?

But it’s not just about who has to go to work. The experience of the pandemic can be very different depending on your life circumstances – how comfortable your living spaces are, whether you have access to the outdoors, and even the ability to social distance when you go out. On this, check out the Toronto artist who built a “social distancing machine” to illustrate how the sidewalks are too narrow for people to safely get essential goods and services. Then of course there are the challenges faced by vulnerable people, including those experiencing homelessness (see my Ricochet op-ed on this here); prisoners; and elderly people.

Prisoners

Over 100 inmates and corrections officers at Canadian federal institutions have tested positive for COVID-19. At least 25 of those are at one facility in BC (the medium-security Mission Institution). Given these concerns there have been calls by health professionals to release as many inmates as possible. That is especially important because prisoners are more likely to be medically vulnerable and to have infectious diseases like hepatitis C and HIV. 25% of the prison population is either elderly or people with pre-existing health conditions.

Guards also feel unsafe: there has been at least one work refusal action by guards in a Canadian correctional facility.

The Criminal Lawyers’ Association and the Union of Safety and Justice Employees have also called for low-risk prisoners to be released. So far, as far as I can tell Ontario is the only province to have done this. Ontario released 2,300 inmates from provincial jails (a drop of about 28% in the total population). These are people in jail for non-violent offenses and that are at low risk to reoffend. (I think jail is where you are before you’re convicted). A few American states have also released some inmates from jails.

Prisons are also using segregation and solitary confinement as a means to control the virus, which raises mental health and prisoner’s rights concerns.

Long-term Care Facilities

In Canada at least, long-term care homes have become the centrepiece of the pandemic. The stats are changing every day, but about half of Canada’s COVID-19 deaths are linked to long-term care facilities. In Quebec, 70% of COVID-19 deaths are linked to long-term care facilities and seniors residences. And we have heard gruesome stories of neglect in facilities such as Residence Herron.  

Unemployment/Debt

The pandemic is also an economic crisis, and that is something that certain groups of people are feeling especially acutely. What are some of the ways that this pandemic is likely to make our economy less equal? Themes: unemployment, unequal access to safety nets, difficulties for new entrants to the job market, and debt. In the US, 22 million unemployment claims have been filed in the last four weeks.

Policy Solutions

And what about the policy solutions to-date: are there actions governments could take that would mitigate these problems? Any countries that you think are doing particularly well or particularly badly? Spain is considering a permanent move to universal basic income, but there are still a lot of questions around whether the program will really be universal and unconditional.

How should we think about the economic problems posed by the pandemic? Themes: to what extent do policy responses increase job security and decommodify basic needs; universal basic income and the Canada Emergency Response Benefit; lowering administrative burdens for applicants;

Canadian Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough, had an interesting response the other day: she said the decision to have some barriers was because they felt having a substantial targeted benefit of $2,000 would be better than having an open policy that was smaller in scope. What would you say to that? 

Long-term Legacy

Ok, so the pandemic has revealed a bunch of problems with our society and it has forced countries around the world to come up to temporary solutions to these kinds of policies. To what extent do you think those actions will create a legacy? In other words, could we see a paradigm shift after this? Themes: which policies will stick around; the 2008 recession; the Green New Deal/Green Recovery.

It will be interesting in the long-run to see whether this crisis produces greater calls for revenue-raising and tax fairness (wealth tax, higher corporate tax rates, more progressivity in income tax) or whether we see a period of protracted austerity that further undermines the welfare state.

Check out our other episodes on the pandemic:
Kristen and Kyla React to COVID-19
Ten Unexpected Effects of COVID-19
COVID-19, Wildfires, and the Climate Crisis
Art, Artists, and COVID-19

Episode 18 - Ten Unexpected Effects of COVID-19

1. Crimes

Drug Cartels

According to a Vice article, COVID-19 is making it really difficult for drug cartels like the Sinaloa Cartel to make and distribute their products. The raw ingredients for manufacturing meth and fentanyl are primarily sourced from China (and in particular Hubei Province), so drug makers have been running low on essential materials for a little while. And even when they can get materials, the price is elevated.

Border restrictions are likely to make it difficult for them to move their product, which is typically smuggled in cars and trucks. “One trafficker who works for El Mayo in the border city of Mexicali told VICE News that last week they went from smuggling around 15 kilos of meth and heroin per week to five due to lack of supply and increased enforcement on the U.S. side.”

A drug dealer in Hamilton, Ontario was arrested for conducting a non-essential business during the pandemic (and also charged with drug trafficking and proceeds of crime).

However, we don’t want to make too much light of this situation because it has real harms. Increased prices are bad news for people with addictions, who will seek out the drug regardless of the cost.

Other Crimes

There has been at least one high-profile heist that has occurred during museum shut-downs – a Van Gogh painting was stolen from the Singer Laren museum in the Netherlands. But in general, muggings, burglaries, and home invasions have decreased because people aren’t out on the streets and because people are conducting transactions online.

On the other hand, declining access to street prostitution may increase online prostitution sites that feature trafficked and enslaved women. So, the kind of prostitution that is being carried out during the pandemic is likely to be worse for women.

Likewise, there are concerns that increased screen-time, coupled with health and economic anxiety, could increase online radicalization.

2. Car Accidents

People aren’t going out as much, so there are fewer car accidents. In Phoenix, Arizona car accidents in the last two weeks of March were down by 75%, as compared with the first two weeks of March. California collisions have gone down by roughly half, according to reporting by the LA Times and Quartz. In Seattle, car accidents have also been halved.

On the other hand, when car crashes do occur during COVID-19 they put first responders at risk of infection. For instance, a paramedic in the Peel region of Ontario has tested positive for COVID-19 after being exposed at a crash site.

3. Domestic Violence

Unfortunately, for some people “stay at home” orders have made life a lot less safe. Domestic violence tends to increase during periods when families spend more time together, such as Christmas and summer vacations.  

Now that families worldwide are in lockdown or being asked to stay at home, domestic abuse hotlines have seen an increase in call volume. For instance, French police reported a nationwide increase in domestic violence of about 30% (36%, according to another source). In the UK, domestic abuse calls have increased by 25%.

The Canadian government has contributed $40 million in emergency funding for women’s shelters, to help address the expected uptick in domestic violence. A further $7.5 million has been given to the Kids Help Phone so that they can hire more counsellors and volunteers to deal with the overload during COVID-19.

This funding is great, but we wouldn’t be in such a crisis if Canada’s regular systems for addressing family violence weren’t so broken. For example, a CBC investigation recently found that women and children are turned away from shelters in Canada almost 19,000 times every month. In September 2019, Maclean’s put out an investigative report by Anne Kingston on the crisis of domestic violence in Canada. Even before COVID-19, Canadian domestic violence was at an “epidemic level”, the five-year average having increased 40%. The report “found a response mechanism structured to fail – a lack of data, inconsistent record-keeping, systemic disconnects, lack of accountability and failure of political will.” They found an “underlying lack of concern for the human rights and safety of women and children” amongst law enforcement, the courts, and public perception.”  

4. Recycling

It is expected that residential waste collection may increase by 30% with more people staying at home and excess material from panic buying (stock home syndrome). And that same projection predicts that recycling contamination could increase by as much as 20%.

The increase in household waste requires recycling pickup and processing to increase, which is causing some disruptions in a few US cities.

And, of course, the demand for single-use plastics is going up as reusable options are prohibited.

Quote from Emily Atkin, who runs a climate change newsletter called HEATED: “The plastics industry is, after all, aggressively pushing for more single-use plastics in the era of coronavirus—and the science they’re using to justify it is shaky at best. And more generally, what are the effects of all this trash we’re generating?”

What Emily Atkin is referring to here is lobbying by the Plastics Industry Association to promote rules against reusable bags during the pandemic. According to her reporting, the studies that they are using to justify these claims actually does not demonstrate that there is a greater threat to consumers when they use reusables versus single-use plastic. And, in fact, if your reusable bag is not made of plastic it may actually be safer, because COVID-19 can last for a long time on plastic.

COVID-19 is also changing recycling procedures – there are fewer specialized recycling pickup options. London, Ontario is even asking sick people to avoid recycling altogether!

5. Armchair Activism

This is just a funny story and I wanted to share it. Apparently quarantined school children in Wuhan, China tried to get their homework app (DingTalk) taken off of the App Store by review-bombing it (giving it lots of one-star reviews). They were almost successful, but unfortunately it’s still up.

6. Climate Change

People have been talking about “silver linings” of COVID-19 in the form of improved air quality and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. You may have seen satellite images of declining air pollution (e.g., nitrogen dioxide concentrations in Italy, air pollutant levels in San Francisco).

But these are temporary and likely to be offset by slingshot effect as countries race to re-grow by slashing environmental regulations. Environmental activists are pushing to ensure that recovery plans are green, but they may not be successful in every case. Also, our failure to address air pollution and other environmental problems has made people more vulnerable to COVID-19.

At the same time, the pandemic has really slowed the momentum of climate activism. April was supposed to be the Global Month of Climate Action, with climate strikes and other protests planned around the world. While activists have found ways to work online, the inability to physically protest has made their work more difficult. And with the pandemic dominating the news at this time, it is difficult to talk about the climate crisis. Yet it is vitally important that we do: “The Corona crisis is a 100-metre race and the climate crisis is a marathon. We have to run both at the same time.” Victor Galaz, Stockholm Resilience Centre.

Can COVID-19 provide lessons for how we can address climate change? Optimistically, some people observe the extraordinary measures taken to protect people and see an opportunity to extend that approach to the climate crisis. It also teaches the lesson that delaying is deadly. But we’ll see.

7. Olympians

Canada was the first country to say that their athletes would not participate in the Tokyo Olympics if they were held as scheduled this summer. The move created pressure such that the IOC postponed the Olympics to 2021.  

So, that’s obviously bittersweet for a lot of Olympians. Training for 2020 would have been very difficult under existing lockdown and social distancing rules. (Also, not getting COVID-19.) But on the other hand, many athletes may lose their chance to compete as a result of this.

An article in Burnaby Now by Lori Ewing and Donna Spencer highlighted the thin financial margins of Canadian Olympic athletes. Fortunately, Canadian athletes are still able to access their 2020-2021 monthly Athletes Assistance Program cheques, which offer between $1,060 and $1,765 per month (which by the way is about half of CERB funding). But prize money is often the main source of income for athletes. And the current shutdown of sport worldwide means athletes aren’t earning that prize money.  

8. Workers’ Rights

There are good and bad news stories on the effect of COVID-19 for workers’ rights.

On one hand, COVID-19 is accelerating the “Amazonification of the planet”. We’re all ordering online more, and mostly from online platforms like Amazon. Amazon is temporarily hiring 100,000 people in the US to deal with the increase. This shift could increase the percentage of the workforce that is doing precarious work in the long term – at the same time as the pandemic has highlighted inadequacies in worker protections for the precariat.

On the other hand, the pandemic is revealing the importance of workers – especially workers in the so-called “low-skilled” category. These workers have been declared essential, meaning they are among the few that have had to continue going to work during the pandemic. They are putting themselves at risk and are starting to receive more respect.

This increased public recognition of essential workers has pushed some retailers to raise pay, at least temporarily. For example, four Canadian grocery chains (Metro, Loblaws, Empire – which runs Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, Foodland, etc. – and Walmart Canada) have implemented temporary wage increases for workers. Amazon has also temporarily raised wages for its Canadian workers.

COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of unions, who are pushing for worker safety protections across an array of industries. For instance, the LiUNA union has been pushing for increased enforcement to ensure worker protection for Canadian construction workers (construction was declared essential work in Ontario). The United Food and Commercial Workers union has pushed for safety measures for grocery store workers, such as protective shields at tills, limits on the number of customers allowed in stores, and security personnel to enforce social distancing, as well as the hazard pay raise that has been implemented in many chains. And nurses unions have been sounding the alarm about the need for adequate personal protective equipment.

At the same time, non-unionized workers have been mobilizing. Some people have likened this situation to the increase in peasants’ living conditions after the Black Death and the resulting Peasants’ Revolt.

Amazon warehouse workers in Europe and the United States have been striking and protesting to assert their need for safety and good working conditions. In Staten Island, NY, for example, workers walked out of an Amazon warehouse to demand that the facility be shut and cleaned during a paid time off after a co-worker tested positive for COVID-19. Oh, and a leaked internal memo shows that Amazon planned to discredit the strike leader as “not smart”. They also fired him. These kinds of walkouts are happening all over America. Likewise, Whole Foods workers (Whole Foods is owned by Amazon) in the US are undertaking rolling strikes/walkouts to demand safeguards against COVID-19. Instacart workers have also gone on strike. They are asking for $5 in hazard pay per order and a tip default on the app of at least 10% 

9. Ebola

The DR Congo’s tenth Ebola epidemic appears to be drawing down (for reasons unrelated to COVID-19). The systems put in place during the Ebola epidemic may help DR Congo to address COVID-19. However, there is a risk that WHO will wind down the response too early and that could put people at risk.

10. Inequality

There are so many links between COVID-19 and inequality that the topic deserves its own episode. But I did want to tease the discussion by highlighting recent reporting on how inequality makes it more difficult for some people to social distance.

The New York Times used location data to examine how inequality affects social distancing. They found that people in the top 10% of income have limited their movement more than the bottom 10% in the same metropolitan areas.

Given that, it’s no wonder that we’re already seeing inequalities play themselves out in COVID-19 deaths. In Louisiana, for instance, more than 70% of COVID-19 fatalities have been African Americans, even though this group makes up just 32% of the population.

Oh, and also this is fucked: two top French doctors proposed on live TV that vaccines should be tested on impoverished African populations.

Check out our other episodes on COVID-19:
Kristen and Kyla React to COVID-19
COVID-19 and Inequality with Alix Jansen
COVID-19, Wildfires, and the Climate Crisis
Art, Artists, and COVID-19