Income Inequality and COVID-19

I’m sure we are all familiar with the effects of COVID-19 on our daily lives. From self-quarantining to online school, all of us have been affected by this pandemic in one way or another. Fortunately, some of us (myself included) can comfortably self-quarantine, but the majority of people are unable to do so. Herein lies the root of inequality’s effect on Coronavirus. Research suggests people at the bottom of the economic hierarchy are often unable to properly self-quarantine. This is a result of crowded living conditions and an inability to telecommute to work, putting one at a higher risk of contracting and spreading the virus. This has caused the Coronavirus to have a detrimental effect on lower-income neighborhoods. This is further demonstrated by research that suggests that individuals from this income bracket are also more likely to die from the virus after contracting it. Two major risk factors are thought to make the Coronavirus deadlier for those who catch it: old age and pre-existing health conditions. Further research has suggested that people with lower income are about 10 percent more likely to have chronic health conditions. Such conditions can make the Coronavirus up to 10 times as deadly, according to recent data from the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Similarly, health organizations have stated that people over the age of 70 are at drastically greater risk of dying from the Coronavirus, but research on chronic health conditions suggests that the threshold may be as low as age 55 for people of lower socioeconomic status.