Four years ago, the world economy faced a historic shutdown as COVID-19 began spreading across the globe. Families already living in precarity stood on the edge of financial collapse in the spring of 2020 as the lockdowns led to layoffs or forced “essential workers” to find childcare for kids sent home from school.
Then, something miraculous happened. The United States government stepped in and began sending direct payments and expanded unemployment checks to Americans all over the country. Far from falling deeper into debt, many people actually paid off debts and found some measure of financial stability. That story holds many lessons, which Scott Fulford writes about in his new book The Pandemic Paradox: How the COVID Crisis Made Americans More Financially Secure. Fulford is a senior economist at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and has led the development of the bureau’s “Making Ends Meet” survey sent annually since 2019 that asks questions about real and perceived financial challenges facing ordinary American families. He spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about his new book.