Low-wage workers will be hardest hit by economic coronavirus impacts

Low-wage workers will be hardest hit by economic coronavirus impacts

Nonprofits are expecting dramatic increases in requests following layoffs and hour reductions.

Nonprofits are bracing for a groundswell of housing assistance requests as the COVID-19 outbreak continues, leading to reduced hours and layoffs for employees in King County.

County officials announced last week new recommendations that employers allow their employees to work from home. It also recommended avoiding large crowds, and since then several events, including Emerald City ComiCon — a large comics convention — have been canceled or postponed.

The situation has been rippling through the local economy, with reports of businesses laying off employees. Low wage workers and those in the gig economy are vulnerable to economic disruptions from the outbreak.

Todd Langton, director of communications for local nonprofit Hopelink, said low-wage workers living paycheck to paycheck will suffer the most. He’s expecting to see an increase in requests for rental and housing assistance. But with no indication of how bad the outbreak will get, he couldn’t say how much need could swell.

“A lot of it has to do with how the society responds to it, and the steps that we need to take as a community to manage around the disease,” he said.

While many of the largest tech companies have told their employees work from home, service workers at restaurants, hotels and other jobs can’t work remotely.

Anneliese Vance-Sherman is the regional labor economist for King County with the state’s Employment Security Department. While hard employment data for the last few weeks won’t be available until April, she expects King County workers in service industries to be harmed the most.

“I’m watching for the impacts on a lot of the low-wage economy. And the reason for this is really when we think about which industries, the functions of the job, rely on face-to-face contact, a lot of these are the service industry jobs,” she said.

People working from home means less foot traffic for retail and service businesses, which can turn into hours being cut and people laid off. It also puts workers more at risk for catching coronavirus and coming down with COVID-19. All of these factors will likely hurt workers making low wages compared to more affluent ones.

“The relative impact of job loss or loss of hours could absolutely bring on hardship,” Vance-Sherman said.

Washington state is offering a program called SharedWork, where employers can cut staff hours by half and employees can simultaneously receive unemployment benefits to help fill the gap.

Still, Bellevue-based nonprofit LifeSpring is expecting a 25 to 50 percent increase in the number of families seeking rental and housing assistance in the coming months. It will likely be compounded by a high cost of living, layoffs that are especially hitting the service industry and possible school closures that could leave parents on the hook for finding child care and food.

“I think the trickle-down effect of this on the families that we support could be rather extreme,” said Jennifer Fischer, LifeSpring’s executive director.

They’re trying to prepare for it, and reaching out to community partners like Safeway to provide food vouchers for families. The nonprofit serves 3,500 low-income students and their families, along with nearly 350 homeless children.

On top of this, LifeSpring has had to cancel it’s spring fundraising event which was scheduled for March. The spring luncheon accounts for a quarter of their budget. They’re asking donors and sponsors to contribute anyway to meet an increase in need.

It’s a situation that played out at Youth Eastside Services as well, said Lidia Harding. The organization had to cancel its March fundraiser, which normally brings in one-third of their annual budget.

“That’s quite significant,” she said.

Harding said they’re not rescheduling, but instead running a virtual donations campaign.

Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank

Other services are shutting down temporarily, like the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank which serves 400 families a week. Their storefront was shuttered this week as the organization developed a game plan for keeping their staff and clients safe.

“In our normal service model people are gathering in groups on a daily basis, and so we’re having to alter that service model to reduce people’s risk,” said Bonnie Decaro-Monahan, the food bank’s development director.

She also noted the trickle-down effect the outbreak is having. Washington state enacted sick leave laws in 2018, and most employees earn one hour of leave for every 40 worked. However, quarantine isn’t covered under the state’s Paid Family and Medical leave program.

In King County, the county’s Regional Affordable Housing Task Force found that more than 124,000 households were cost-burdened, meaning they spent more than 30% of their income on housing. And American Indian, Alaska Native and black households experienced higher levels of cost burdening than others. Those under 25 were the most likely age group to be cost burdened as well.

Incomes for those in the bottom quintile have not kept pace with those at the top, with tech workers seeing their incomes increase by 127% between 2005 and 2018. In 2018, one in five county households earned less than $41,000, marking a much smaller 45.5% increase since 2006.

According to MIT’s living wage calculator, a single parent with a child would need to be making $30.30 an hour in the county to live comfortably. More than double the $15 Seattle minimum wage, or the $13.50 statewide minimum wage.

The coronavirus outbreak, which has killed at least 20 in the county and sickened more than 100 people, is exposing the underlying inequality in the area.

“The situation makes it real. It’s no longer a ‘Boy, what if.’ It’s happening, and it’s going to bring to light the knife edge that a lot of people walk living day to day, because of the cost of living, and because of the income inequity,” Langton said. “It’s a system, and it’s a system that’s not working for a lot of folks. And it’s an example that’s going to demonstrate what happens when that kind of system leaves people behind.”


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in News

File Photo
Kent Police officer shoots, injures man in Des Moines

Feb. 14 incident under review by Valley Independent Investigative Team

People line SE 272nd Street in Covington on Presidents Day, Feb. 17 to protest many of the actions by the Trump administration. COURTESY PHOTO, Ron Auerbach
People line Covington street to protest Trump, Musk actions

One of many protests across the nation against ‘the anti-democratic and illegal actions’

Charlene Honda at the Day of Remembrance on Feb. 8, 2025, at the Washington State Fairgrounds. Photo by Bruce Honda
Federal Way woman recalls her time in U.S. concentration camp

‘It’s good for people to hear what happened so that it never happens again.’

t
Man fatally shot by Kent Police had high blood alcohol level

Crime lab test results show 0.27 blood concentration level in August 2024 shooting at apartments

Courtesy Photo, City of Kent
Construction set in Kent for 74th Ave. S. and Willis Street

Crews to install traffic islands, curbing at busy intersection

t
Kent Police Blotter: Jan. 26 to Feb. 6

Incidents include vehicle prowls, carjacking arrest, police pursuits, shots fired

Kentlake High School. COURTESY PHOTO, Kent School District
Former Kentlake High School teacher pleads guilty to sex charge

Jesse Webb, 46, pleads guilty to communication with a minor for immoral purposes

t
Kent School Board appoints Teresa Gregory to vacant seat

Gregory selected from among 7 finalists to replace Awale Farah

Karen Keiser. COURTESY PHOTO
Former state Sen. Karen Keiser appointed to state Exchange health board

Health Benefit Exchange formed as part of Affordable Care Act

Crews on the SR 509 Completion Project in south King County install the framework for a new bus stop on SR 516, also known as Kent-Des Moines Road. The SR 509 Completion Project includes new or improved connections to existing transit centers and stops. COURTESY PHOTO, WSDOT
Eastbound SR 516 ramp to I-5 in Kent to close for 4 months

Drivers heading to northbound I-5 will use a temporary left turn lane

Courtesy Photo, King County
Tacoma boy, 17, charged with murder in November 2024 Kent case

Reportedly fired six shots into vehicle that killed 21-year-old SeaTac man on West Hill

t
CW series ‘Police 24/7’ features Kent indecent exposure case

Department also part of future TV episodes after crews responded on calls with police in 2024