How School Closings Will Affect the Economy
The tourism industry is being hit hard by coronavirus. So is the entertainment industry. However, the pain is about to get a lot worse. Even industries that will have to stay open--health care, police, grocery stores, drug stores, public safety, gas stations---because they are essential to our survival are about to take a big hit. That is because all across the nation, summer break is coming early--and working parents are not prepared.
Our local school is closing for two weeks--minimum. For those working parents with children aged 4 to 11 who rely upon school for day care so that they can work, this is going to be huge blow. An even bigger blow than not having paid sick leave. Most young adults will have only a mild bout of coronavirus and they may or may not choose to stay home. However, every working parent who suddenly has no day care will be unable to work. That means no paycheck whether or not they have paid sick leave at their job since jobs do not pay someone to stay home to take care of the kids.
Things we can expect to see happen
1) Lots of people with paid sick leave seeing their doctor (medical clinics will still be open) for work notes for bogus respiratory infections, flare ups of chronic back pain etc that will last exactly until their kid's school reopens. (Yes, this does happen. Every year at Spring Break I see a certain number of working parents who "get sick" for exactly one week). The medical system is already over strained but it will get worse as health care facilities become both understaffed (see 4 below) and demand for medical services will rise.
2) Grandparents and elderly relatives enlisted to do child care--meaning more exposure to infectious disease for our most vulnerable
3) Unlicensed daycare--lots of kids crowded together in squalid circumstances for those parents who have no paid sick leave defeating the purpose for closing schools (preventing spread of disease)
4) And most devastating of all, lots of absences of nurses, phlebotomist, janitorial staff, clerks, public safety workers--those who will not be furloughed from their jobs because their jobs are essential. This means that attempting to get health care, fill a prescription or stock the pantry will become even more challenging in the weeks to come. And even some discretionary industries (like nail salons, clothing retailers etc) will be hit as their workers are forced to call in for "No daycare"
If Trump and Pence were not such idiots, this would not have happened. Trump actually insisted upon bringing coronavirus to this country and also insisted that we would not test for it or have any public health policy in place to deal with it.
Some have called this "Trump's Katrina." This is much worse than Katrina.
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