The Disparities in America's Small Business Relief

View in browser

A closed sign on the window of a business during the outbreak of COVID-19.

The Paycheck Protection Program has made $537 billion in loans to 3.6 million U.S. businesses. But a recent Census Bureau survey showed that 41% of businesses that applied are still waiting for approval.

In a new analysis below, Sifan Liu and Joseph Parilla examine the severity of America's small business crisis and highlight disparities in relief across states. Our experts also assess how COVID-19 is impacting vulnerable communities and discuss opportunities for reform.

And as a tumultuous K-12 school year concludes, we look at the uphill battle to prevent student learning loss and discuss how the U.S. government can provide effective support to schools. To close out the week, we spotlight the role of technology in the fight against the virus.

Supporting the hardest-hit communities

Small business relief for struggling states. Small business revenues have plunged everywhere, but some states are more exposed than others. Sifan Liu and Joseph Parilla shed light on the issue and emphasize the need for timely relief.

Policing in America. "While the pandemic creates new challenges for policing and exacerbates others, the hardships related to the coronavirus also present new opportunities for strengthening citizens' safety and improving relations between communities and law enforcement," writes Vanda Felbab-Brown.

Protecting our economy and our health. Even before the coronavirus crisis, America was more socially disconnected, isolated, and lonely than it should be. Carol Graham and Benjamin Miller call for policy responses that recognize the mental health impacts of social distancing.

Social distancing in vulnerable areas. To better understand COVID-19's disproportionate impact on Black America, Makada Henry-Nickie and John Hudak use new mobile device tracking data to examine social distancing and how it impacts infection rates in Detroit.

In a follow-up blog post, they offer recommendations for designing policies that mitigate or assist those most vulnerable.

The state of children's education

Children are unequally prepared for COVID-19's impacts. The economic and health distress on family life and children’s well-being have become more an informational news story than the national rallying cry that they should be, Lisa Gennetian and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek argue.

Getting tutoring right to reduce learning loss. Matthew Kraft and Michael Goldstein make the case for high-dosage tutoring, an approach that can both stimulate the economy and aid schools' efforts to help students make up for lost learning.

Supporting students and promoting economic recovery. "Given the major budget shortfalls state and local governments now face, schools will need a large infusion of federal funds if they are to address students’ growing needs and to aid in national economic recovery efforts," Sarah Reber and Nora Gordon write.

In an additional post, they advocate for sending most federal aid to states and school districts through a fiscal stabilization fund, rather than than expanding existing federal programs.

Leveraging tech to fight the virus

Adoption obstacles for contact-tracing apps. Mobile contact-tracing technology can track population movements and alert individuals when they come into contact with an infected person. But to be effective, roughly 60% of the population needs to opt-in and use these apps. Sarah Kreps, Baobao Zhang, and Nina McMurry discuss the public skepticism surrounding them.

Congress must stay connected. In response to social distancing orders, members of Congress are quickly switching to online engagement for reaching out to constituents and providing information about the COVID-19 pandemic. Kevin Esterling, Michael Neblo, and David Lazer explain how policymakers can host effective online town halls.

Online content moderation. "Amid the pandemic, a funny thing has happened: The platforms are now being praised for finally being able and willing to carry out 'content moderation'—a euphemism for what is actually private censorship—at scale," Jillian C. York and David Greene write.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up to receive this twice-weekly newsletter. For all Brookings research and analysis on COVID-19, see our topic page.

If you no longer want to receive updates on coronavirus/COVID-19 from Brookings, please enter your email on this form. You will still receive any Brookings newsletters that you previously signed up for.