As people of faith, we must prioritize the people that make up the economy and not bow at the altar of the false god of economics.
The economy is more than the stock market. Our economic life is how we as a society come together to share our goods and talents as a community and collaborate toward building a better community where all will receive their daily bread and enjoyment of life.
To end hunger, we need a healthy economy that focuses on people over profits and making sure that the bottom is lifted up not only that the wealthy are catapulted into the stratosphere. We must acknowledge when the economy on its own falls short so that social supports step in and guarantee that all receive their daily bread.
The U.S. and global economy are 'TRANSFORMING’. Business professor and writer, Scott Galloway, estimated that many current trends - online shopping and automation - took a 20 year leap forward due to the pandemic. As a part of the economy, I have long seen a worker shortages, supply chain issues, the childcare crisis, the substitute teacher shortage and much more in our urban, inner-city neighborhood. I have seen it when visiting congregations in rural Ohio as well. The trends were coming to the suburbs, and the pandemic sped up their arrival.
Without public investments, things would be much worse today. Research demonstrates that the federal investments reduced poverty and hunger, kept people in their homes, and allowed the economic life in the U.S. quickly bounce back from the pandemic recession. While things could have been worse, there are still many people who are struggling in this economy and we would be misguided if we focused our attention at rising wages (for some) and stock profits (for some) without acknowledging that looming foreclosures and evictions many, stagnant wages for others, and a lack of childcare for far too many families.
When we put the economy above people, we are guilty of worshipping a false god.
The theory is that a strong market will guarantee families economic stability. The reality, though, is the markets normally come up short - leaving people and communities without what they need. Programs like unemployment and disability insurance are examples of how we have stepped in to correct problems in the market so that the economy can continue to function. Social security also steps in to correct a shortcoming of the market - guaranteeing seniors aren’t put into poverty because of their age.
Here are a few questions many people are asking - and a few answers:
What is the labor market? The labor market reflects people as commodities - the supply and demand for labor. Right now, we see a demand for labor. But this doesn’t mean that people are intentionally sitting out of the economy. Instead people are making smart financial decisions that are transforming our economy. In this lenten season, these disruptions might be frustrating now, but could lead to a stronger economy with less hunger ini the future.
Over 678,000 new jobs created in February - well above the expectations. While the month-to-month numbers are always revised, the trend is in an upward direction for employment as the official unemployment rate falls. Some economists believe the U.S. is approaching ‘full employment’ (which doesn’t actually mean everyone has a job) and that we will be back to pre-pandemic employment levels by this summer.
The unemployment rate is down to 3.8%, but this number only looks at those ‘actively in the labor market’. The expanded unemployment rate (sometimes called the real unemployment rate) is currently 7.6%. This means that half the people who are not working right now are not considered ‘unemployed’ for various reasons. These individuals often are ineligible for assistance. People struggling with both diagnosed and undiagnosed disabilities, lack of childcare, or living in the wrong part of the country get classified differently and will likely remain out of the labor force.
Why are my grocery bills going up? Inflation. Many people will point the finger at politicians or ideas they don’t like and blame them for inflation, but the reality is that it is more complicated. During the pandemic, factories closed around the globe and stopped making stuff or reduced staff and output. Many corporations are now trying to quickly ‘catch-up’ on back log of consumers who want new products and also get caught up on their missed profits. It is expected that as the supply chains settle down again, inflation will slow.
The ‘labor shortage’ is also a contributing factor as companies cannot just re-start top levels of production of goods or services until they address the staffing issues.
Are people just quitting their jobs right now? No. NPR’s Planet Money coined the term, The Great Renegotiation! People are going to their employers and asking for higher wages, work-from-home options and more work-life balance flexibility. If their employer doesn’t acquiesce, they quit and take a job someplace else that will provide them a better quality of life. This is a common occurrence, but as the pandemic shut-downs ended in late 2020 and 2021, many people had the opportunity to re-negotiate their work lives and improve their whole lives.
Why do so many restaurants and other places I go have help wanted signs? When the pandemic hit, we saw massive layoffs. The U.S. unemployment rate rose from 3.5% in February to 14.5% in April of 2020. While many individual managers showed compassion to their employees, and many small businesses really had no other option, corporate leaders just fired people to maintain their balance sheets. Then when these services re-opened, the employees didn’t flock back. The Paycheck Protection Program was ineffective at pumping dollars into the businesses that wanted to do right by their employees - but professional sports franchises got a loan!
Many of these people found new jobs or started up their own efforts to engage in the economy without the corporation taking a cut of the product of their labor. Now, even with hire wages offered in many places, poor hours and a lack of predictable schedules keep the service industry struggling to find employees who have better options available now.
Are some people just choosing not to work? Yes, they retired. I remember in high school, back in the 1990s, we learned about the baby boomer generation and the upcoming retirements - (Remember the lock box sketch on Saturday Night Live? Yeah, we knew this was eventually coming, folks). Many individuals in the baby boomer generation were on the verge of retirement anyways and the pandemic pushed what would have been spread out over the next 10 years into a single year. 70% of the 5 million people who left the labor force during the pandemic are older than 55. Also, we saw a decline in retirees who continued in the labor force by picking up a post-retirement job. Many of these retirees, though, are actually still working outside of the traditional labor force by caring for family members.
Why aren’t others returning to the work? Because of the real crisis - Childcare: The days of a stay-at-home parent full time were becoming a thing of legend for most Americans. During the pandemic, schools shut down and families had to learn how to balance work, manage a household, and supervise their kids.
Many of the people over 55 who retired are now playing a more active role in providing childcare support for their grandchildren. For other parents, finding affordable and reliable childcare is difficult and often impossible. Even at $15 an hour, a part-time job, with unpredictable hours, isn’t a wise choice when childcare is extremely difficult and costly.
Because of the childcare crisis, families are calculating out one parent staying home and attempting to make ends meet in new and creative ways. There are creative models of more community and neighbor-to-neighbor childcare set-ups, they are engaging in the ‘gig economy’ more which doesn’t always get counted as part of the labor force.
Many businesses relied on that second parent working our fast food lines, customer service call centers, and in office administration. Now that they are home with their kids, those jobs are going unfilled.
The economy is transforming! How can we make sure it transforms for the better?
The reality is many of these things might be good for the community - inter-generational and community supports, for example, are promising trends. People able to negotiate for a better and more healthy work-life balance, also a positive. But we still must address the childcare shortage and inflationary pressures that are making it hard on Ohioans to make ends meet.
Put people over profit. Many corporations are still making record profits but trying to raise prices to make up for losses during the pandemic. These profit driven motives spread throughout the economy leading to inflation.
Expand Childcare: We need public investments into childcare services with hire pay for the teachers and professionals that we expect to care for our most valuable asset - our children.
Expand child tax credits to make staying home with kids an option: Restoring the expanded child tax credit will go a long way in helping parents make the right choice for their family.
Expand Earned Income Tax Credits and other credits for low and modest wage earners to help alleviate the pressures from inflation.
Support family work: Grandparents care for grandkids is work. Adults who care for aging parents is work. We need to create economic supports for them to strengthen family supporting family.
Remember that service requires people: While we work and wait for the transformation of the economy we need to be realistic about the costs of things. Two-day free delivery, instantly ready meals, 24 hour shopping might be a thing of the past. These systems required a workforce that was desperate for an extra shift to keep food on the table.
As the economy transforms, we need to focus on ending hunger as the top priority. By putting people the focus on the people instead of profits we can easily improve the quality of life for all of us while ensuring that all receive their daily bread.