Page 64 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

The second effect of the pandemic and the state of lockdown
that ensued was to expose the profound disconnect between the

essential nature and innate value of a job done and the economic
recompense it commands. Put another way: we value least
economically the individuals society needs the most. The sobering
truth is that the heroes of the immediate COVID-19 crisis, those

who (at personal risk) took care of the sick and kept the economy
ticking, are among the worst paid professionals – the nurses, the
cleaners, the delivery drivers, the workers in food factories, care
homes and warehouses, among others. It is often their

contribution to economic and societal welfare that is the least
recognized. The phenomenon is global but particularly stark in the
Anglo-Saxon countries where poverty is coupled with
precariousness. The citizens in this group are not only the worst

paid, but also those most at risk of losing their jobs. In the UK, for
example, a large majority (almost 60%) of care providers working
in the community operate on “zero-hour contracts”, which means
they have no guaranteed regular hours and, as a result, no

certainty of a regular income. Likewise, workers in food factories
are often on temporary employment contracts with fewer rights
than normal and with no security. As for the delivery drivers, most
of the time categorized as self-employed, they are paid per “drop”

and receive no sick or holiday pay – a reality poignantly portrayed
in Ken Loach’s most recent work “Sorry We Missed You”, a movie
that illustrates the dramatic extent to which these workers are
always just one mishap away from physical, emotional or

economic ruin, with cascading effects worsened by stress and
anxiety.

In the post-pandemic era, will social inequalities increase or
decrease? Much anecdotal evidence suggests, at least in the
short term, that the inequalities are likely to increase. As outlined

earlier, people with no or low incomes are suffering
disproportionately from the pandemic: they are more susceptible
to chronic health conditions and immune deficiency, and are

therefore more likely to catch COVID-19 and suffer from severe
infections. This will continue in the months following the outbreak.
As with previous pandemic episodes like the plague, not everyone

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