An Opportunity to Fix America's Broken Systems

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From the workers' safety net to child welfare, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed serious flaws in vital U.S. systems. As policymakers debate relief measures, they have an opportunity to strengthen key programs—many of which had significant issues even before the crisis.

Below, our experts highlight several important areas to focus on. In addition, we assess how the virus is affecting the United States at the local level, including the damage done to city economies.

And how can we leverage data in the fight against COVID-19? What do current metrics reveal about the state of the crisis? New work from Brookings examines these questions.

Fixing broken systems

The workers' safety net. As the pandemic exposes the shortcomings of America's workers' safety net, John C. Austin says we must use the crisis to accelerate necessary changes to federal and state workforce policies.

The employment system is failing low-wage workers. 53 million Americans, 44% of the labor force, earn low wages. Martina Hund-Mejean and Marcela Escobari explain how the employment system can be rebooted to support these workers during and after the pandemic.

What COVID-19 means for the child welfare system. The U.S. child welfare system has long struggled with a lack of clear program structure and overall philosophy driving its mission. The current crisis provides an opportunity to re-think and restructure child welfare at its core, Morgan Welch and Ron Haskins argue.

The internet is critical and needs public interest oversight. COVID-19 demonstrates how digital networks and their services are a critical part of our lives and our economy. "Something that critical is too important not to have a public interest obligation," Tom Wheeler writes.

Local impacts of the virus

Which city economies were damaged first? From February to March 2020, 191 U.S. metro areas shed a combined 591,000 jobs—about 84% of the national total. A new brief from Alan Berube sheds light on the COVID-19 driven recession and what might come next.

Massive aid to states is needed. "The simple fact is that the pain of recessions does not hit all areas equally." Mark Muro says it is imperative for COVID-19 aid packages to account for the large variations in states' economic conditions.

The virus is expanding into Trump country. "As the coronavirus moves into new areas where a broader range of population groups reside, attitudes favoring greater preventive measures and delaying the reopening the economy may also become more widespread," William Frey writes.

Innovation districts are continuing the fight. By leveraging local assets, innovation districts are demonstrating the power of coordinated and concentrated efforts to address an unprecedented global challenge, Julie Wagner contends.

What the data reveals

Who do U.S. citizens listen to on social distancing? New analysis from Sarah Nzau and Richard Reeves suggests that national messaging on social distancing has a national impact, independent of state-level directives.

Labor markets in 20 wealthy countries. What forms of relief are most effective at preserving the employer-employee relationship and securing the foundations for a robust recovery once the economy reopens? To find out, Jonathan Rothwell and Hannah Van Drie compiled data on unemployment and related benefit claims from 20 wealthy nations.

How data science can ease the pandemic. Data science can already provide ongoing, accurate estimates of health system demand, which is a requirement in almost all reopening plans. Nigam H. Shah and Jacob Steinhardt say we must go beyond that.

The need for new models. Existing epidemiological models have been valuable, but they were not designed to support the types of critical decisions now facing leaders. Alex Engler calls for a new generation of models that estimate the risk of COVID-19 spread for precise geographies.

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