A survey finds that liquid assets increased the likelihood that a person in the United States could practice social distancing.

“Social distancing is a privilege that comes with resources and wealth, but wealth is not distributed equally in America,” says Michal Grinstein-Weiss , professor and director of the Social Policy Institute (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis. “Wealth gives individuals agency to make choices, like social distancing , that keep themselves and their families healthy.”

The SPI interviewed approximately 5,500 respondents from all 50 US states from April 27 to May 12.

“Lower liquid assets leave people in a position of choosing income over social distance safety,” Grinstein-Weiss says. “As money increases, affordability to social distance increases.”

Survey respondents also revealed other significant loss and hardships as a result of the pandemic. The survey finds that:

• Low- and moderate-income households delayed major housing payments and health care;
• Hispanic/Latinx homeowners were more than twice as likely (14.1%) to be evicted than non-Hispanic white (6.4%) and five times as likely as non-Hispanic Black (2.6%) homeowners, despite moratoriums on some evictions;
• Job loss most affected Hispanic/Latinx (27%) and low-income individuals (29%);
• One in three gig workers reported working less as a result of the pandemic, and 86% of those individuals said gig income was essential or important to their household budget;
• and 34% of people who lost their job reported food insecurity .

“While it’s too early to draw conclusions about long-term impacts of the virus, we know that it’s exacerbating situations for households already experiencing financial vulnerability, wealth inequalities, and health inequities,” Grinstein-Weiss says.

They presented their data during a virtual event called “ The Impact of COVID-19 on the Racial, Gender, and Generational Wealth Gaps ,” co-hosted with the Center for Household Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Data suggest that the pandemic may exacerbate underlying inequalities, Grinstein-Weiss says.

“Understanding the wealth gap is important, but more critically we need to design policies that enable people to build wealth as the economy recovers,” she says.

Source: Washington University in St. Louis

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