It's Attitude Keeping People from Staying Home During COVID-19, Not Just Essential Jobs and Their Neighborhood's Wealth
A study released a couple weeks ago based on location data stated it was a privilege of wealth to be able to stay at home during COVID-19. My initial response was it had to do with the types of jobs residents of poorer neighborhoods are more likely to have; essential laboring like grocery stores, gas stations, and factories, as opposed to urban firms where telecommuting can get the work done. However, after observing the attitudes and life situations of certain people, I realized that attitude has an effect on their not staying home, too. Case 1 is a relapsed alcoholic with a revoked driver's license who has been in and out of jail for 20 years with DUI charges, once a felony. He moves from one cash paying job to the next but is currently unemployed. Case 2 is a divorced single mother working jobs such as bartending and waitressing, quick to quit when something does not go in her favor. She always resides with a current boyfriend until moving in with the next. B...