Research pick: COVID-19 inequity lessons - "The COVID-19 crisis and (in)equity: what lessons can we learn?"

Research published in the International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education takes a US perspective on the COVID-19 crisis and the inequalities that disadvantaged and marginalized populations have experienced during the pandemic. Tonia Warnecke of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, considers healthcare access and provision, the digital divide, remote work, national crisis management, the paycheck protection program, worker safety, the gig economy, and unemployment in this context.

Every crisis is different and affects people in very different ways at the local, national, and international levels. However, a major pandemic caused by a potentially lethal pathogen, as is the COVID-19 pandemic, affects disadvantaged and marginalized populations much more than those in a privileged position around the globe. Warnecke suggests that the disparities in the USA are caused by many people not having access to remote working arrangements, the technological divide, a lack of access to good quality health and education, and longstanding racial and gender inequities.

“Crisis management and response can either reduce or exacerbate impacts on different groups,” Warnecke suggests. She adds that her study highlights lessons that society must learn from the experience of the current pandemic to allow us to reframe decision-making processes for greater inclusivity. This would hopefully stand us in good stead to face a future pandemic. Unfortunately, history shows us that many of the public health lessons that might have been learned during other crises, such as the 1918 flu pandemic, the Great Recession, and the 1997 Asian crisis, were cast aside once the crisis was over. This had a detrimental and lasting effect on millions of people.

To avoid new inequities emerging once we have moved through the current pandemic crisis, lessons surrounding non-pharmaceutical interventions, consumer protection, and supply chain resilience must be understood and acted on urgently at the earliest stage of the next major crisis.

“The equity gaps are large and diverse in the USA, with only some highlighted here, but many opportunities remain to reframe economic decision-making and risk management processes to be more inclusive of marginalized and less advantaged groups,” writes Warnecke.

Warnecke, T. (2021) ‘The COVID-19 crisis and (in)equity: what lessons can we learn?‘, Int. J. Pluralism and Economics Education, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp.8-13.