Poverty in the Pandemic: How COVID-19 Still Impacts Connecticut
America is well over a year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic. And for many people, it can feel like the worst days of the coronavirus are behind us. Sure we may still wear our masks in schools and businesses, but at least we’re out of lockdown and we have a vaccine. From that angle, the pandemic seems like little more than a memory. COVID was awful, but at least it’s mostly over, right?
This, of course, could not be further from the truth and is really a mindset that can only really be afforded by the most privileged in the country. The fact of the matter is, the economic hit that the pandemic has taken on America, which has disproportionately impacted people of color, cannot be emphasized enough. A November 2021 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities noted how “these disproportionate impacts reflect harsh, long-standing inequities — often stemming from structural racism — in education, employment, housing, and health care that the current crisis has exacerbated.”
And Connecticut is, of course, far from an exception to the rule. The state is well documented for having some of the highest income equality in the country. The state’s Gini coefficient, which is a measure of income inequality on a scale from 0 to 1 with 0 indicating equal distribution of income and 1 meaning a single unit (household or individual) is earning the entire state’s income, was calculated to be 0.50 in 2019, which makes Connecticut the state with the second highest level of income inequality in the country behind only New York. Obviously, with the pandemic’s aggravation of national inequity, this has put Connecticut in a profoundly troubling situation.
The homeless population has been steadily declining in Connecticut over the past decade and according to a poet by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the amount of people experiencing homelessness in Connecticut declined 4% between 2020 and 2019 and 33% between 2020 and 2010. Regardless, the number is still substantial and deeply concerning. 2,904 people reported experiencing homelessness, which includes 1,947 adults, 305 family households, and 560 children.
The number of children experiencing homelessness is particularly worrying. Research has shown that homeless children often experience social isolation from their peers, have higher rates of substance abuse disorders, experience difficulties with sleep, are prone to anxiety, and often lack a sense of place and self, amongst a variety of other harmful effects, all of which can have a severe negative impact on homeless children’s education, health, and overall development.
COVID specific difficulties relating to homelessness have also surfaced, because it is now far more difficult to provide homeless people with immediate housing, as shelters are reaching capacity far quicker due to social distancing guidelines.
Beate Monsan, a 59 year old Bristol resident, became homeless in February 2020 when she and her husband were unable to pay rent. She is looking for work, however she and her husband are both disabled which has made finding a job difficult. Still, despite that her disability has made seeking employment so challenging, she and her husband are still at the bottom of the list to receive housing, because they are older and young families are being prioritized under these circumstances where housing is so limited.
Monsan’s story is not merely a fluke, rather it is a result of the systemic issues our state, and the nation, has when it comes to aiding homeless people. Currently in Connecticut, housing waitlists can reportedly be up to a year and a half depending on a family’s size.
But issues relating to homelessness are far from the only poverty related problems the pandemic has worsened. Another profound, if perhaps not as visible issue, is the increased disparities in food insecurity.
A survey published in September 2021 by CT Foodshare showed that overall food insecurity rates have increased from 29% to 31%, with people of color’s rate of food insecurity increasing disproportionately high in comparison to white people. Before the pandemic, 40% of people of color in Connecticut were food insecure while 24% of white people were. A year later, 43% of people of color report experiencing food insecurity while 26% of white residents do.
Higher rates of food insecurity were also reported in households with children, particularly households headed by single parents. 44% of households with children, up from 41% the year prior, experienced food insecurity in the year since COVID while 24% of those without did, up from 23%.
Job disruption, such as loss or decrease in hours, was also a significant factor, as 50% of those who experienced it had food insecurity, in comparison to 40% the year before COVID while 22% of households not currently experiencing it did not, down from 23% the year before.
Evidently, this data related to recent homelessness and food insecurity in Connecticut reaffirms what we all know and has frequently been ignored: the COVID 19 pandemic has had lasting economic impacts on people across the state and the nation that are not simply going to banish in a year’s time. And critically, those being most affected are members of already marginalized communities, like people of color and disabled individuals, who face systemic barriers that make poverty more likely and harder to escape.
Sources:
“Gap between Rich and Poor, by State in the U.S. 2019.” Statista, 20 Sept. 2021, https://www.statista.com/statistics/227249/greatest-gap-between-rich-and-poor-by-us-state/
Food Access in Connecticut - Ctfoodshare.org. https://www.ctfoodshare.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Food-Access-In-Connecticut-Report.pdf
“Homelessness Was down in CT before the Pandemic. Here Are 5 Things to Know.” The CT Mirror, 30 July 2021, https://ctmirror.org/2021/03/19/homelessness-was-down-in-ct-before-the-pandemic-here-are-5-things-to-know/
Maldonado, Zinnia. “What's Being Done for Connecticut's Homeless Population during the Covid-19 Pandemic.” fox61.Com, 1 Apr. 2021, https://www.fox61.com/article/news/local/whats-being-done-for-connecticuts-homeless-population-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/520-9f033c87-57b5-45f7-bf53-acde85da3143
Phillips, Amy. “Homelessness and Its Impact on Children.” ACAMH, 23 Oct. 2019, https://www.acamh.org/blog/homelessness-impacts-on-children/
“Tracking the COVID-19 Economy's Effects on Food, Housing, and Employment Hardships.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/tracking-the-covid-19-economys-effects-on-food-housing-and