scholarly journals COVID-19 and the Working Class: Harm, Resistance, and Solidarity in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth B Pathak ◽  
Janelle M. Menard ◽  
Rebecca B. Garcia
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Social Safety Net ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Indigenous Nations

Compared to many other wealthy nations, the United States lacks a strong social safety net, has weak legal protections for workers, has suffered long-term declines in unionization, and has eroded the gains in prosperity achieved by the working class in the post-WWII era. Consequently, despite advancements in science and medicine, the U.S. working class has suffered great harms during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the direct effects of illness and mortality and from indirect familial, social, and economic impacts. The failure of the federal government to protect blue collar, service, and retail sales workers with strong mandatory worksite infection control regulations has further endangered working class communities. The dearth of federal leadership has been countered by solidarity and a diversified set of pandemic monitoring and mitigation efforts on the part of worker organizations (primarily labor unions), social service NGOs, Indigenous nations, and communities of color. Defeating the COVID-19 syndemic will require continued working class solidarity, an ethical framework for envisioning a future which prioritizes social and racial justice, and structural economic and sociopolitical transformations.

The challenges of cross‑racial coalition building

2020 ◽  
pp. 95-112
Author(s):  
Harris Beider ◽  
Kusminder Chahal
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Strategic Plan ◽  
The United States ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Racial Boundaries ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
White Working Class ◽  
The 1960S

This chapter examines the possibilities of building cross-racial coalitions between the white working class and communities of color as the United States transitions from majority white to a minority white country. Fifty years after the campaign for civil rights and the passage of landmark legislation during the 1960s, there is little evidence of formal and sustainable cross-racial coalition building at the grassroots or grasstops level between the white working class and communities of color. White working-class communities wanted to engage with communities of color but did not have the means of engaging across racial boundaries beyond a superficial everyday level. Discussions between different communities were “soft-wired” and based on fleeting exchanges in informal spaces rather than becoming “hard-wired” in a strategic plan that can create a framework for coalition building. Stakeholders were largely ambivalent and occasionally hostile toward engaging with white working-class communities to build effective cross-racial alliances. Similar to white working-class communities in relation to communities of color, stakeholders found it challenging to engage with these groups.

Donald Trumps Ziel, den „Sumpf trocken zu legen“. Zum US-Wirtschaftsaufschwung seit 2009

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (190) ◽  
pp. 91-114
Author(s):  
Trevor Evans
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Financial System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Situation ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
The Us ◽  
Current Economic Situation

The current economic situation in the United States can be seen as the result of three factors. The first is the long-term shift to a neo-liberal order. The second factor is the US business cycle. Periods of economic expansion in the 1980s, the 1990s and the early 2000s were each brought to an end by increasingly severe crises, the most recent of which in 2007-2009 came perilously close to causing a collapse of the US financial system. The most recent expansion, which began in mid-2009, has been unusually weak, and is already relatively long by comparison with other recent expansions.The third factor is the presidency of Donald Trump which began in January 2017. Despite a populist rhetoric and the dependence of his electoral victory on mobilising white working-class support, in government he has pursued an unashamed series of measures which primarily benefit the very richest sectors of US society.

The U.S. Welfare State Is Minimal

2021 ◽  
pp. 99-105
Author(s):  
Mark Robert Rank ◽  
Lawrence M. Eppard ◽  
Heather E. Bullock
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Safety Net ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
The Social ◽  
Welfare Expenditures ◽  
The U.S

Chapter 13 examines the size of the social safety net in the United States. Compared with European and other OECD countries, the United States has a fairly small safety net. The amount spent is approximately 2 percent of our GDP. In particular, programs aimed at protecting children from poverty are minimal. These programs have also been reduced over time, especially since the 1996 welfare reform changes. Challenging the myth of the bloated welfare state requires tackling multiple intersecting misperceptions, including erroneous portrayals of U.S. welfare expenditures as exorbitant and low-income programs as driving up the national debt. It will also require shattering myths that legitimize keeping welfare benefits low.

Most Americans Will Experience Poverty

2021 ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
Mark Robert Rank ◽  
Lawrence M. Eppard ◽  
Heather E. Bullock
Keyword(s):  
Panel Study ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Assistance ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Social Safety Net ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Poor Children

Chapter 2 reviews the life course research on the risk of experiencing poverty. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), the majority of Americans will at some time during their adulthood experience a spell of poverty. Furthermore, 10 percent of children spend at least half of their childhood living in poverty. Many Americans will also turn to a social safety net program for economic assistance. The implications of this research are discussed, which include understanding poverty as a structural rather than an individual failure. Shoring up safety net programs and investing in poor children and families can be a long-term financially sound strategy for the United States.

America’s Poor Are Worse Off Than Elsewhere

2021 ◽  
pp. 73-81
Author(s):  
Mark Robert Rank ◽  
Lawrence M. Eppard ◽  
Heather E. Bullock
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Poverty Line ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
The United States ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Living Wage ◽  
Median Income ◽  
Social Safety Net ◽  
The Past

Chapter 10 examines the difficulty of living in poverty in the United States. Using the MIT living wage calculator, families in poverty are unable to meet monthly expenses. Furthermore, the distance between the poverty line and median income in the United States has been growing for the past 50 years. When compared with other OECD countries, the United States has higher rates of poverty and more severe levels of poverty. A major reason for this is the relatively weak social safety net found in the United States. In addition, the extent of social exclusion and deprivation is likely higher in the United States as a result of the considerable stigma attached to poverty.

Is Trump a Symptom or a Cause? Economic, Political and Ideological Foundations of the COVID-19 Outbreak in the United States (First Draft)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhihan Cui ◽  
Sherry Jueyu Wu ◽  
Lu Liu ◽  
Yu Ding ◽  
Thomas Talhelm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Safety Net ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
American Conservatism ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Us ◽  
Social Safety Nets

The US is amongst the worst-performing countries at combating COVID-19. And within the US, red (Republican) states have significantly higher cases per capita than blue (Democratic) states. We use cross-country, state, and county-level data to provide a comprehensive analysis of economic, political, and psychological factors contributing to these differences. An inferior social safety net and American conservatism systematically correlate with the realization and effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing and mask wearing from April to September. Economic inequality and weak social safety nets drive the economically vulnerable to work outside their homes, increasing mobility and reducing social distancing during early stages of the pandemic. Conservative ideology, anti-intellectualism, and evangelicalism drive people to politicize social distancing and mask wearing. Both factors predict a premature reopening in many states, and have a strong correlation with the drifting of COVID-19 epicenters to red states over the course of 2020. These factors have more explanatory power than partisanship in the first half year of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. However, from October on, closer to the presidential elections, partisanship is a better predictor of anti-COVID measures and explains well the regional variances of confirmed cases across states and counties. This indicates that partisanship is not the solely important factor in determining COVID-19 response and outcome, but its impact is likely to have been magnified as time goes by.

scholarly journals Social Welfare and Social Work Education In Canada

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-16
Author(s):  
Douglas Durst
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Safety Net ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Historical Developments ◽  
Work Education

Internationally, Canadians struggle with their national identity. Canadians proclaim that they are not Americans and like to boast that they have more in common with Sweden with its snowy winters and extensive social programmes. This article outlines some of the historical developments of social welfare in Canada and examines some of the recent trends at dismantling the programmes. In the neo-conservative state, efforts towards “globalization” and “free trade” with the United States have attacked Canada’s social safety net, marginalizing and suppressing the poor. However, in spite of the current trends, Canadians have maintained its humanitarian philosophy and resisted the “Americanization” of its social programmes. Some of this resistance has been successful but as in many other countries much of it has failed.

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