The closure of nonessential businesses in most states across the country has left millions of people out of work, with either reduced wages or no clear income stream. Countless small businesses that need a loan to stay afloat have struggled to get it from the Paycheck Protection Program, while many laid-off workers who need unemployment benefits encounter broken enrollment systems.
But underneath all of this is also the emotional toll of being told that what you do is not “essential” during this time, that your skills or work aren’t needed by society at this particular moment. While other times of crisis have had calls to duty or valuable contributions big and small that people can make for their country or community, from giving blood to joining the armed services, for the vast majority of people who do not have medical training or who do not work in an “essential” industry, we are not asked to do something but rather to not do anything.
As our society and economy sit idle, I’ve often thought about the importance of being needed. A beautiful op-ed written in 2016 by the Dalai Lama and Arthur Brooks highlights the interaction between rising discontentment around the world and “the growing number of people who feel they are no longer useful, no longer needed, no longer one with their societies.”
So what can we do, then, for the restaurant owner who writes, “my restaurant was my life for 20 years – does the world need it anymore?” For the projectionist for the local movie theater, who isn’t sure when his abilities will next be valuable? The makeup artist who isn’t sure when she will be able again to help a bride get ready for her big day? The hollowing out of jobs in many blue-collar fields and small towns brought enormous consequences over the course of many decades. Here, in the course of just weeks, tens of millions of workers have abruptly been cut loose from their livelihoods and told to shelter in their homes. One can only imagine how this is exacerbated by the fact that we are told to isolate ourselves from others as much as we can.
The economic remedies to keep these workers afloat financially are necessary, but not sufficient. People need to be needed. In my most recent Echelon Insights voter survey, I wanted to understand how people are feeling their value to society has changed, if at all, since the start of COVID-19. While most say they haven’t felt a change on this front, we find nearly 1 in 6 voters (15%) saying they feel they “have less to offer” society since the crisis began, a feeling that is particularly acute among people under age 30 (27%) and Hispanics (20%). One-fifth of those in rural areas say they feel they have less to offer society these days.
But there is one arena where many people are feeling more needed than ever: the family. When people are instead asked if they feel they have more or less to offer their families, we find 33% saying they feel they have more to offer their families these days, with 12% saying they feel less. Notably, this includes 35% of those who say they have lost a job or had their hours cut as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Divides by race, age, and region all become much more muted. Few of us feel we have much more than usual to offer society these days, but a sizable number (including those who are newly out of work) are finding they have even more to give right at home.
The dignity of work, a feeling that what you are doing is contributing to the world around you, is an essential cornerstone of well-being. But work comes in many forms, and in these turbulent times, many people are doing new forms of critical, unpaid work: delivering meals to elderly family members, creating a classroom for their children right at home, supporting a spouse or partner who works in an essential job.
In their piece, the Dalai Lama and Brooks called upon us all to “start each day by consciously asking ourselves, ‘What can I do today to appreciate the gifts that others offer me?’” As many of us grapple with how we can best be of value in a time when we are mostly asked to stay put and stay out of the way, we can start off by looking close to home, and making sure we are doing all we can to show others that they are valued and needed.
