Fact Checked Source: Chris Moody, "Most Brown and Black Americans Are Exposing Themselves to Coronavirus for a Paycheck"

On March 23, 2020, VICE new journalist Chris Moody wrote about in unequal opportunities different racial groups had to work remotely when the coronavirus pandemic started and quarantining started.

Looking Deeper: Five Facts Checked

"more than 100 million Americans who must be physically present to work”

“White and Asian workers have the highest rates of access to remote work, but the rate of telecommuting access plummets among black and brown employees."

This claim was interesting to me as I never really though of how the little disadvantages for some racial groups can become much larger during times like this. Out of the 144,295 workers in the US, 34,390 white workers have remote work available, about 23.8%, while there are 3,522 African American workers(2.44%), 2,902 Asian workers (2.01%), and 3,961 Latino or hispanic workers(2.56%), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The numbers may have changed since the article was published, but Asian workers have the lowest number of remote work available, which is inconsistent with the article 

“Last week the Labor Department reported jobless claims reached a two-year high, to 281,000 from 211,000”

I wanted to research this fact more as that's a vey large chunk of people in the U.S. that are without a job during this time. It's important to look out for those who may not have the same opportunities as the virus becomes much scarier when money is becoming scarce and quarantining doesn't seem like it'll be over anytime soon. A new release of these numbers April of 2020 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms this all time high in unemployment in the country. The overall accepted claims have also risen a lot.

“A group called United for Respect, which is advocating for stronger worker protections during the pandemic."

This claim was interesting to me as I wanted to learn more about the different organizational groups that were rallying together during these times as many people have been put in a dangerous position work-wise. I looked into this organization and found that United for Respect(UFR) is working to get more respect from corporations to their workers to help those who get hurt from the cut in hours or pay. They help many different races, ages, sexes and are helping more now due to the pandemic. People can join or simply donate to help this group.   

“Less than 30% of Americans have jobs that allow working from home”

I wanted to look into this claim as the percent isn't very large but when looking at the total amount of workers, 144,295 in 2018 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number is very large. After researching it more in depth, the data confirms this claim as 66.8% of workers would receive pay for their work at home, making the option not very helpful if you cannot keep your income. This is very concerning during these time. These numbers may have changed because of the pandemic, but as a starting number, it's very frightening to see how many people in the country could go without pay during these times. 

Analytic Essay

Essential Workers Braving the Streets to Keep Us Quarantined
 

During this pandemic, there are millions of people in the US who are being quarantined in their homes. Unfortunately, this isn’t an option for everyone. To keep the majority of our country safe, some people are needed to stay out. Delivery workers and other essential workers are needed to work so the people who are quarantining can get the necessary materials to stay home. Essential workers need to continue traveling and interacting with people at some level to keep their income and to keep our economy moving. It’s important in times like these to have some people still working. Grocery shopping and ordering materials that are needed like soap, cleaning supplies and more are still important in the people’s lives. The people who are staying and working from home don’t realize that the workers who have to stay out for our sake and for their income.  

Many delivery workers have to continue working to keep their income as working from home isn’t an option for their line of work. For many, work isavailable to be done from the safety of their home, however, “more than 100 million Americans who must be physically present to work"(Moody, 2020). This means that there are many Americans that are risking their health in order to keep their incomes so their family can keep their lifestyle while in quarantine. As a middle class American whose parents can work from home without worrying about getting their paycheck, I don’t think much about ordering something online. But for someone whose parents have to be at the grocery store, delivering packages or in the hospital for their work, may worry more about whether they’ll contract the virus and possibly put the rest of their family in danger. Many people also work part-time, which is becoming more scarce during these times.

“Gig work is nothing new — contractors, freelancers and the self-employed have made up a significant part of the U.S. economy for decades. More than 10 percent of Americans rely on gig work for their primary income”(Bhattarai, 2019).

These people are still going out to find work, which may mean they become extra essential workers, and that’s even more people whose finances are affected as well as their health.

When looking at the statistics of who has the most availability to work at home, 23.8% of white Americans have jobs that allow work at home available, while Asian Americans have the lowest number of 2.01% that type of jobs available(Table 1, 2018). There are some racial differences between those who can work from home,  and those who need to go without a pay for a while. The virus isn’t picking one race over another to infect, but the amount of exposure may be higher for those who have to work, and from that data, less white Americans need to stay present at their jobs than any other race. The fear of being exposed comes with a big question: do I work through the pandemic or stop working? With that in mind, many people have been laid off or lost their job during this pandemic. This is what essential workers would have to face if they chose not to work during the pandemic.  Many people have been laid off which is a cause as to why there have been more than 100,000 more workers that have become unemployed between March 2019 and March 2020, raising the unemployment rate by 0.6% (Table A-14). With many people out of jobs, the pandemic becomes more alarming. 

Essential workers also put trust into their job’s company. The delivery workers know more about how the packages are handled at different sections of transit. They know if packages have been sanitized or how many different people the packages have come into contact with. However, they’re not doctors or virus specialists, so even if the company disinfects the packages, they don’t know if it works 100% of the time. The workers also don't have contact with those machines that disinfect packages if they deliver, which also puts trust into those workers as well. Some distrust may be present there as well as other essential workers may wear masks when delivering packages, stocking shelves, or other tasks as they don’t believe every precaution has been taken. This is where information from the news and specialists come into play. 

Altogether, the pandemic has been hurting many people health wise, but the workers that are helping to keep the public’s ability to stay home have also made a large sacrifice. Every essential worker puts some trust in another person to keep them safe as well as trusting that their bosses will reduce contact with people that aren’t necessary. Their goals are to continue their work and help keep others at home, so they don’t have to risk their health. Many people don’t have the luxury of working from home and need to risk exposure to the virus to keep their income for their families. So many businesses have also taken a hit financially from this pandemic and those workers who are out delivering food also risk their health with every shift. It’s important to acknowledge these workers and their sacrifices they’ve made to keep our groceries coming and our packages safe. 

Resources

Bhattarai, A. (2019, November 7). 'Don't game my paycheck': Delivery workers say they're being squeezed by ever-changing algorithms. Washington Post, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/11/07/dont-game-my-paycheck-delivery-workers-say-theyre-being-squeezed-by-ever-changing-algorithms/

This journalistic article talks about the changes in essential workers pay, hours, etc. The article focuses mostly on the delivery workers during this pandemic. The article compares the pay and hours before the pandemic to what it's like for delivery workers after all their hours are changed. This article also describes how has this pandemic made it harder for those who need to work to keep their income.

Kuszai, N. (2020, March 23). Downtown, Campbell's Adjusts Daily During Extraordinary Time for Grocers. East Lansing Info, from https://eastlansinginfo.org/content/downtown-campbells-adjusts-daily-during-extraordinary-time-grocers

This local news page talks about how COVID-19 has effected the stores around the college campus and to show how the virus is effecting the essential businesses whose customers have been driven away.The article talks about how the change in number of people around East Lansing has effected their business, as they usually can depend on students from MSU year-round. This gives the perspective of people who are technically essential because their business is food related, but their revenue is effected due to the amount of people staying home and leaving the area.  

Moody, C. (2020, March 23). Most Brown and Black Americans Are Exposing Themselves to Coronavirus for a Paycheck. VICE media. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xgqpyq/most-brown-and-black-americans-are-exposing-themselves-to-coronavirus-for-a-paycheck?utm_campaign=sharebutton 

This journalistic VICE news article talks about the statistics of which racial groups are out risking their health in order to get money for their families. The article talks about the dangers the delivery workers and essential workers risk when they go to their job they need. The article supports the perspective as the people who are out running deliveries and errands for others are risking they health just to earn a paycheck because they cannot afford to sit at home without an income. Since their jobs cannot be done remotely, they need to either decide to stop working for their health or to keep working with the risk of getting COVID-19 for their financial sake.

Table 1. Workers who could work at home, did work at home, and were paid for work at home, by selected characteristics, averages for the period 2017-2018. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  https://www.bls.gov/news.release/flex2.t01.htm.  

I used this source for fact checking. I also used it in the analytic essay as I thought it gave some important information that readers could find helpful. I saw it as giving more detailed information that the readers could look into more if they wished to draw their own conclusions.  

Table A-14. Unemployed persons by industry and class of worker, not seasonally adjusted. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t14.htm 

I used this source for fact checking. I used it in the analytic essay as well as it was more recent than the other table from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, so I wanted to include as a source as well.

Updated Store Hours for Coronavirus. (2020, April 1). Kroger, from https://www.kroger.com/i/coronavirus-update/store-information

This is a large company's website that explains the changes in store hours due to COVID-19. The website says they've changed the hours of their stores to help those that are very sense-table to COVID-19 or have to work for others during times normal people would be able to shop. This shows how the perspective of people working all day may be grateful for some big named companies seeing how it may be more difficult for them in these times. This shows how essential businesses still care about their customers safety during this pandemic.