- Mirroring national reports, soon after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, many respondents experienced unemployment or saw their hours cut, resulting in dramatic loss of income. Additionally, many had to quit their jobs to care for children or other dependents in the face of the widespread school and childcare closings and health risks in group care facilities.
- Many AVP respondents reported the importance of side jobs for making ends meet. For some, the pandemic made these mechanisms less accessible, particularly when they revolved around entertainment or in-person gatherings. Others found new opportunities to generate income despite or in response to pandemic disruptions.
- Accepting or borrowing money was reported by AVP respondents facing economic hardship. Many respondents sought help from their community — including neighbors, relatives, or friends.
- Income loss led to housing instability for some. Doubling up was not uncommon before the pandemic, however, some respondents reported sharing their livingspace due to Covid-related disruptions.
Following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, fears of household hardship arose due to the profound impacts on businesses and workers across many sectors of the economy. While material hardship is a common condition for many low- and moderate-income individuals and families, and disproportionately common among Black and Hispanic households, pandemic disruptions meant that many lost reliable sources of income, both formal and informal. Temporary and permanent closures led to the elimination of jobs or reduction of hours for many workers. This had cascading effects on side gigs and informal labor, both interrupting work and creating pandemic-related work opportunities.
Our findings highlight the importance of two types of data that are not traditionally tracked. First, as engagement in the gig economy has become more common, data on income and employment from this sector are increasingly available. However, most of the new data sources still lack nuanced information about the gig economy experience. Second, the narrative details provided by the in-depth interviews conducted through the American Voices Project highlight the importance of hearing directly from individuals to demonstrate how broader trends are playing out in families’ lives. Some of the effects of the pandemic on people’s economic circumstances are only broadly identified with survey data. Adding nuance through qualitative research, like the American Voices Project, enables us to better understand not only the nature and details of observed trends, but also the meaning for individual lives and future trajectories. While surveys told us about the prevalence of side jobs, for example, these interviews illuminated both the increase and loss of opportunities associated with the pandemic and help us understand their role in bridging some pandemic induced gaps. These data are also useful for identifying emergent themes that may be more fully investigated in the future through further quantitative and qualitative work.