Coronavirus crisis, exposure risks shine light on wage gap in Vermont
By ANNE WALLACE ALLEN
Valley News
Bub Quimby, of North Country Medical Couriers, returns to his car after picking up medical specimens at the VA Medical Center in White River Junction, Vt., Thursday, April 2, 2020. “Most of us that do this job kind of take it to heart whether it’s the crisis or not,” said Quimby. “To me, it’s not just a job. I feel like I’m actually doing something that matters.” (Valley News - James M. Patterson)
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into sharp relief some of the forces that make the work experience unfair.
Many of the occupations that bring workers in closest contact with the public — and therefore in the most peril regarding infection with COVID-19 — are among the lowest-paid, according to an analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those include cashiers and retail salespeople, whose annual pay hovers around $30,000, according to the BLS, and police officers, who make about $50,000.
The health care workers who have some of the most dangerous jobs, working with ill people in confined settings, have an average pay scale of $70,000.
State orders that closed businesses in March disproportionately struck restaurants, child care centers, salons, gyms, and retail stores, sectors that traditionally pay little. With no warning, many workers didn’t have any savings and were immediately vulnerable to homelessness and hunger. Vermont Foodbank has reported an increase of up to 100% in demand for food.
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