Will we ever return to "business as usual" since the invasion of COVID-19 more than a year ago? According to a new Pew Research Center survey nearly 60 percent of Americans believe it will take a more than a year before most businesses, schools, churches, etc., return to what they were prior to the pandemic.
Although more than four million businesses received emergency loans from the Small Business Association (SBA), a study conducted by researchers at Harvard Business School and The University of Chicago indicates over 100 thousand small businesses have closed their doors forever. Meanwhile, the Pew Research Center study shows that only 16 percent believe businesses will be able to bounce back in 6 months to a year. A whopping 81 percent believe it will take a year or more for the job market to recover.
When you examine the study along gender, racial, income status, and political lines, it reveals the following:
60% of women believe it could take two or more years to return to some sense of normalcy, compare to 53 percent of men.
64% of Black Americans believe it will take longer than a year to resume a normal life, compared to 56% for Asians and 51% for Hispanics.
People in the upper income brackets are the most optimistic about when life will return to normal. 49% believe the country will get back to business as usual in 6 months to a year compared to 43 percent of people who fall into the middle income bracket and 40% for lower income.
Republicans account for 44% of people who think it will take more than two years for jobs to return in comparison to 26% of Democrats. (Wonder how different these numbers would be in Trump were still in office)?
It's been over a year now since we've been dealing with the pandemic that has taken more than 500 thousand lives. Personally, I don't want us to return to "business as usual." I want to see us grow from this mess and implement new strategies to avoid a similar disaster in the future. Perhaps it means getting rid of ELECTED OFFICIALS on the local, state and national levels to make that happen. What do you think?
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