Work and Education After the Pandemic: Who was left behind?
This report draws on in-depth interviews with Poverty Tracker participants to better understand the experiences of low-wage workers through different stages of the pandemic. Their stories show that while the effects of the pandemic may be fading for many, workers with low-wages have incurred substantial debts and continue to struggle as they re-imagine and retool their work lives.
Direct Cash Benefits during the Pandemic: Spending, saving and returning to work
After being forced into unemployment by the pandemic, direct cash benefits allowed New Yorkers to avoid material hardship while adapting to a changing labor market. Using Poverty Tracker interviews, we also find that while New Yorkers put their COVID-relief benefits to good use, they did not substitute for work. Rather the benefits helped people secure their current, and even future, economic survival while they figured out when and how, and not if, to return to work.