Poverty inside a pandemic
Food, shelter top list of needs for many unemployed during COVID-19
When Robin Williams cooks chicken for dinner it’s a treat as her budget does not usually allow for much more. “We eat a lot of hamburger,” said the 57-year old grandmother, who worked as a server at the Cracker Barrel in Roseville before restaurants were closed across the state to thwart the spread of the coronavirus. She and her family have since been riding out the coronavirus storm in a single hotel room with two double beds and a bathroom.
“I have my two teenage granddaughters living with me. My daughter is renting a home in Detroit but, for financial reasons and because the hotel is close to the girls’ school, they have been staying her with me,” Williams said.
Then she smiled. No matter how cramped their quarters might be, her granddaughters have never complained and she knows it is better than living on the streets.
“Financially, it’s been a real struggle,” Williams said. “I have to pay for the room every day and by the time I’m done there is not much left.”
As a server she earned minimum wage, plus tips — about $20,700 a year. The poverty level is $22,000.
Despite her earnings, Williams said she was managing a household and her and her daughter had hopes of eventually finding a house they could rent. But that was before COVID-19. When restaurants were closed down and left with an abundance of food but no customers — her boss allowed her to take home whatever food she wanted.
That helped tremendously, for a while.
She also has had access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and that has helped but there are still days when she doesn’t know where her next meal might come from.
Coronavirus & Poverty
More than 14% of the state’s population lives below the poverty line, ac
cording to an annual study of poverty by county by the University of Michigan.
The numbers are expected to go higher, at least in the short term, as the pandemic continues and sectors of the economy struggle to reopen and replace lost jobs and incomes.
In southeast Michigan, the poverty level varies widely, from 21.7% in Wayne County to 11% in Macomb County, to 8.2% in Oakland County.
The poverty level is higher among youth aged 18 and under. The statewide number is 19.6%. Among southeast Michigan counties, it’s 32.4% in Wayne County, 16% in Macomb County and 9.6% in Oakland County.
If there’s two areas symbolizing the impact to the state and local economy from the continuing pandemic, it’s in the number of people seeking unemployment benefits and food assistance.
Jobless claims topped 1 million in Michigan in late April. While the number of claims in the state system has declined a bit in early May, a record number of people remain unemployed as parts of Michigan’s economy reopen.
A one-time federal government stimulus check of $1,200 didn’t do much for many people struggling to pay bills and buy food after sudden layoffs or furloughs, and the state’s unemployment system has experienced backlogs and glitches from the unprecedented number of filers accessing the system.
Food insecurity was a problem for many before the onset of the pandemic, and it has only increased.
The state expanded food assistance programs in March to an additional 350,000 Michigan residents, and received federal permission to waive work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
“The most significant change is probably food assistance cases/recipients and the dollar amount of food assistance benefits,” said Bob Wheaton, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. “The number of people receiving food assistance, for example, went from 1.25 million in March to just under 1.5 million in the preliminary numbers for April. And that was after an increase in March from February.”
Prior to the onset of the pandemic, 14.9% of the state’s population received food assistance or SNAP benefits. Again, those numbers vary by county – 22.3% in Wayne County, 10.8% in Macomb County, and 6.4% in Oakland County, according to the U-M study.
At Forgotten Harvest, which arranges food across southeast Michigan for pantries and churches, lines are longer today than before the start of the pandemic.
“Our agencies are reporting at our regular pantries of 50 a percent or more increase,” said Chris Ivey, director of marketing and communications for Forgotten Harvest.
With the pandemic underway, Forgotten Harvest has opened 17 mobile “super sites” once a week at locations in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties that serve 650 to 750 families in drive-through lines once a week at each location, in addition to up to 250 regular food pantries.
“We find we’re running out food at the end of the day,” Ivey said. “We know the need is there, we know the need is going to stay. The long-term impact of the virus, nobody knows what that’s going to be. We’re preparing for the long haul.”
Forgotten Harvest keeps a list of the mobile pantries and the days they’re open on a web page at https:// www.forgottenharvest.org/ COVID19/, and broader list of food pantries at https:// www.forgottenharvest.org/ find-food/.
In addition, the state keeps a locator map of summer school nutrition programs at https://www.mcgi. state.mi.us/schoolnutrition/ now that in-school learning has been cancelled.
Detroit-based Gleaners also operates food distribution centers in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Monroe counties and supplies food to other pantries. It has a list of resources on its web page at www.gcfb. org.
Other areas of need are also looming on the horizon due to the pandemic. Some areas of the social safety net have been recognized as areas of need before the pandemic.
Housing
A recent survey suggests the ability to make monthly housing payments is becoming more difficult for unemployed workers.
Apartment List’s latest report, a survey of 4,000 people nationwide, found that 31% of respondents failed to make their full May housing payments, up from 24% in April, and that 16% of those who were able to make their full housing payment on time in April haven’t yet been able to pay anything in May.
Missed housing payments remain common for renters and homeowners, according to the survey.
But the survey also noted that more than half the households that couldn’t pay their April housing bill on time eventually closed the gap with late payments.
Among those who work from home, the delinquency rate of 20% was the lowest among the groups surveyed.
The survey found that optimism is improving and that a greater share of respondents expressed confidence that they could afford June payments, despite shelter-in-place orders.
To assist homeowners and renters, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launched a new website this week at https:// www.consumerfinance.gov/ coronavirus/mortgage-andhousing-assistance/.