It's Not Over: The Lasting Socioeconomic Impact of COVID-19

When the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill in 2020, primary focus was containing the spread of the disease and developing a working vaccine.

Three years later, we now know much more about the disease from a medical and scientific point of view, but we’re still learning about its long-term socioeconomic impact. Globally, COVID-19 resulted in more than 4.3 million confirmed cases and 290,000 deaths. However, the lockdown and distancing measures also uncovered upticks in domestic violence in abuse, with an increase by as much as 25 percent to hotline services. In addition, auxiliary healthcare services such as mental health services suffered.

Considered to be the worst economic crunch since the Great Depression, the pandemic is also estimated to have thwarted the educational careers of nearly 1 billion students worldwide, resulting in a direct impact to the global workforce. According to the United Nations, though the impact of the pandemic isn’t the same for every country worldwide, it is expected to increase poverty and inequalities for the foreseeable future.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, the human and social services sector especially felt the impact of COVID-19. The nonprofit sector lost an estimated 1.6 million jobs in the early days of the pandemic, with many organizations becoming insolvent as a result, despite government support. This loss of social nets and support has also had lasting socioeconomic implications without the aid these organizations previously provided, including access to healthcare.

Join us at the City Club for a Youth Forum on the lasting impact of COVID-19.

Tickets are free for high school students. Contact Amber Smith at asmith@cityclub.org to register your school or student.

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The livestream will be available beginning at 12:00pm. Have questions? Tweet them at @TheCityClub or send a text to 330.541.5794.

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Production and distribution of City Club forums in partnership with Ideastream Public Media is generously provided by PNC and the United Black Fund.