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10 Ways The COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Life In America

2021-11-15T14:45:14.316Z


It reduced life expectancy, especially for Hispanics, and complicated daily decision-making. Teleworking was consolidated, although not for everyone, and the dynamics of love relationships were altered. What else was transformed? We explain it.


Almost two years have passed since the COVID-19 pandemic entered our lives and turned the world upside down.

In the United States, about 50 million people have been infected with the virus and the death toll exceeds 750,000.

And although hospitalizations and deaths are decreasing - 70% of adults in the country are already fully vaccinated and immunization of children is underway - we have not yet left the tunnel.

How did the pandemic change the daily lives of millions of people in the United States, especially Latinos?

Below we collect 10 episodes that help answer this question. 

1. Life expectancy was reduced

Let's start with

health

, an issue that has been especially difficult for the Hispanic community.

  • According to a federal report, life expectancy in the United States fell by a year and a half in 2020 due to COVID-19, the largest loss since World War II.

    Although the most affected group are Hispanics, whose life expectancy was reduced by three years.

    It went from 81.8 in 2019 to 78.8 in 2020

    , a notable difference compared to the 1.2-year reduction for the white population.

  • Hispanics' risk of getting COVID-19 is twice that of whites and is the highest among the various ethnic groups in the country.

    In addition, the risk of hospitalization for Hispanics is almost 3 times that of whites and the death rate twice as high.

  • According to data from the Pew Research Center, about half of Hispanics say that a family member or friend was hospitalized or died from COVID-19. 

Hospital workers transport the body of a COVID-19 victim to Saint Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, California, on July 7, 2020. The pandemic reduced life expectancy in the US by 1.5 years.Jae C. Hong / AP

2. There are more depressed people

Rates of depression in the United States tripled with the arrival of the pandemic, according to a study conducted by researchers at Boston University between March and April 2020.

  • People with fewer social and economic resources and greater exposure to stressors such as job loss were the most affected, according to the analysis.

    Before the pandemic, 8.5% of the people consulted had symptoms of depression and during the pandemic, that percentage rose to 27.8%.

  • A new analysis by the same researchers, published on October 4, 2021, indicates that not only does the problem persist but it has increased in the last year to reach 32.8%.

    In other words, almost 33 out of every 100 people in the United States are affected by depression.

  • Women are 1.6 times more likely to have elevated depressive symptoms compared to men, the study notes.

3. More people prefer larger spaces

Perhaps because they have been locked up for so long, Americans are now more likely to want to live in a community where "the houses are larger and farther apart, but schools, stores and restaurants are several miles away," according to data from the Pew Research Center published in August.

  • Today, six out of 10 adults prefer large, detached spaces, an increase of seven percentage points from the fall of 2019.

  • While the percentage of people who prefer to live close to each other, in small spaces and where you can walk to school, restaurants and shops decreased from 47% to 39% between September 2019 and July 2021.

  • In the case of Hispanics, although the majority prefer large sites separated from other houses, they are the second ethnic group (43%) with the highest preference for living in communities with smaller houses that are closer together, only behind Asians (58%).

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4. The danger of evictions increases 

Currently, 17 out of 100 Americans are very likely to be evicted from their homes in the next two months because they cannot pay their rent.

  • Hispanics are the most affected group: 22 out of every 100 Hispanics live in this situation, followed by whites (18%) and blacks (15%), according to data from the Census office, which since April 2020 has been measuring the effects of the pandemic on the lives of Americans.

  • The percentage of Hispanics and whites in danger of eviction nearly doubled since September of last year.

    In late August, the federal moratorium on evictions came to an end after the Supreme Court rejected the latest in a series of extensions to the measure by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

[“I always want to cry”: this is how COVID-19 damages the mental health of Latinos, and how sadness and anxiety can be combatted]

  • And the percentage of people who own homes and are very likely to lose their home due to not being able to pay the mortgage fell slightly, remained almost the same, barely exceeding 3%.

    Although the high risk of losing the home decreased 3 percentage points among Hispanics, a notable change considering that for the other ethnic groups those figures remained almost the same. 

5. We struggle more with daily decisions

About a third of Americans say they now have a harder time making everyday decisions, due to concern about the coronavirus pandemic.

  • This problem mainly affects younger adults, especially millennials (people between 25-40 years of age), who are, in any case, the generation most affected by the economic crisis that caused COVID-19.

    Nearly half of millennials struggle to make basic decisions like what to wear or what to eat, according to a survey released last October commissioned by the American Psychological Association. 

Kristen Bigogno looks at her belongings on the sidewalk after being evicted from her home on September 17, 2021, after defeating the federal moratorium on evictions due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeff Roberson / AP

  • Decision fatigue - small and large - is having a disproportionate impact on parents, according to the study.

    For example, more than half of parents with young children say that everyday decisions have become more stressful.

    And overall, about 6 in 10 people believe the pandemic has made them rethink how they were living their lives.

  • Hispanic adults are more likely than white adults to say that decision-making has become more difficult than before the pandemic, according to the report. 

6. Working from home became a reality, only for some

One of the big changes that the pandemic has brought about is the ability to work from home.

  • In more than a third of households in the United States, people have worked from home more often than before the pandemic, according to a Census survey.

    Although this change is not the same for everyone.

    Those who telecommute tend to have higher incomes.

    In 73% of households earning more than $ 200,000, people have been able to work from home, more than double that of households with incomes between $ 50,000 and $ 74,999, where only 32% of people had that privilege.

[A court confirms the blocking of the vaccination mandate for companies with more than 100 employees]

  • A recent study by sociologists from Davidson College and the University of Louisville found that telecommuting during the pandemic improved work-family balance and employee job satisfaction, as well as increased productivity and the number of work hours.

  • According to a poll published in October by Cid Gallup, 9 out of 10 people who work at least a few hours from home hope they can continue to do so after the pandemic. 

7. More mothers prefer not to work for a salary

The pandemic caused more mothers to question whether working for pay is in their best interest, according to a study published by the Pew Research Center in August.

  • In October 2020, nearly a quarter (27%) of moms with children under the age of 18 said it would be best for them not to work for a salary at all, a notable increase from the summer of 2019, when the 19 % answered the same.

Anna Hamilton, 43, of Decatur, Georgia.

She had to quit her job to be able to take care of her children Henry (left) and Adrián while they received virtual classes due to the pandemic.

The photo was taken on August 24, 2020. Brynn Anderson / AP

  • The change in preferences is much more marked among mothers who were not employed when they responded to the survey, (in 2020, 65 out of 100 unemployed mothers did not believe that working for a salary was their best option).

  • In addition, the proportion of moms who believe that it is best for them to work full time fell from 51% to 44% during the same period, and among those who work part time, the number who preferred that to a full-time job increased. 

[Women suffer the economic impact of COVID-19 disproportionately]

8. Now we are looking for more meaningful love relationships

Probably being isolated and away from friends and family for so long made us rethink our love priorities.

  • The pandemic prompted the search for stronger and more durable relationships.

    According to a study by online dating site Match, which surveyed 5,000 single people in the United States in August, about half of singles said the pandemic has made them more interested in "a meaningful and committed relationship," while the 44% said they are now looking for a long-term relationship.

  • Regarding what they look for in a partner, 78% said they want a physically attractive person, a lower percentage than in 2020 (90%).

  • Meanwhile, nearly five in 10 people who use dating apps said they are now prioritizing "finding a relationship" more than before the pandemic. 

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9. Consolidation of virtual medicine 

Virtual medicine - medical consultations by video call or by telephone - is another phenomenon that exploded during the pandemic.

  • Faced with the great risk of catching the virus indoors, thousands of people chose to visit the doctor from their living room.

    According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the last week of March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, virtual medical consultations increased almost 150% compared to the same period in 2019.

  • Four large virtual medicine providers in the country, whose data the CDC analyzed, registered close to one million visits in the first three months of 2019. For the same period of 2020, the number increased to 1.6 million.

    And almost two years after the pandemic hit, telemedicine has become an important option for a growing group of people.

  • According to a survey by the Census Bureau, during the first week of October 2021, 16 out of 100 American adults had a virtual medical appointment, the majority through a video call.

    That ratio is similar for Hispanics and whites and slightly higher for blacks (18%). 

Dr. Neil Handelman sees a patient virtually at his home in San Rafael, California, on March 27, 2020. During that month, virtual doctor visits increased almost 150% in the United States, due to the impact of the COVID pandemic. -19, which led to the suspension of many in-person services.

Paul Chinn / Getty Images

10. The pandemic increased the retirement of older adults 

With the slow recovery of the labor market after the pandemic, the retirement of the elderly also increased.

  • By the third quarter of 2021, 50.3% of adults 55 and older had retired, an increase of 2 percentage points from 2019, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center with federal employment data.

  • The impact of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic differs from other crises, which did not alter the increase in the workforce of Americans 55 and older, which began around 1997, explains the Pew Center.

    Even during the Great Recession of 2007-2009, the rate of retired seniors decreased slightly.

The difference could be that in most households wealth increased since the beginning of the pandemic, as did house prices, contrary to the loss of wealth a decade ago that motivated older people to continue working to take money home. 

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2021-11-15

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