Aibu - so many missing economic cost to health

[Puzzle500]

Possibly going to get flamed...but there seem to be such a large sector of the population who are clear they won't send their children back to school, go back to work etc because of the risk of the virus. On a simple level, I understand that - but why can no one see that if we end up in huge economic decline the health impact and death impact will actually be higher? The future for children in poverty terrifies me

I live in a place with lots of seasonal jobs, second homes, coastal businesses etc, and the whole local population is "keep everyone away forever" - is it just me thinking they are unreasonable on one level as when this is gone, what on earth will they have jobs doing? The town will die.

They will be able to drink lots of cider and watch Netflix all day. Same as before.

A lot of people don’t understand what it really means to be poor.

If you think out of work benefits will support a daily cider habit, you’re out of touch @Avalanchekit

I had a panic about the worst case scenario for DH and I last week (we are freelance/self-employed) and looked up what our entitlement would be if we both became unemployed. It’s a pittance. A terrifying prospect which lots of people are facing. Areas like OP’s have enough economic problems even in prosperous times.

@Puzzle500 YANBU - this depression is going to absolute hell for many people.

There has never been an economic recession that lasted forever. Death, on the other hand....

We are facing both, though, @walkingchuckydoll - that is the depressing thing.

Economic downturns also cost lives though.

I wonder what the suicide rate will be. There must be a lot of people facing financial ruin, spiralling debt etc in addition to having lost loved ones to the virus.

I'm in Italy, and a supporter of lockdown for as long as it takes, because we're all a long time dead.

But, MN does appear to be full of people loving the not having to work, loving the baking and craft with the kids, and the country walks. I guess they're also loving their full bank accounts.

I'm a British person in Australia.....I keep wondering how lone parents living on low incomes are managing? The ones who live in inner cities or in far-flung housing estates with hardly any decent supermarkets nearby...or none.

How are they coping?

Also OP....how do you think the town will die? Businesses will start up again....it won't die.

In all fairness, many will change their mind once they have to choose between universal credit and work. sitting at home at 80% salary is very comfortable...

@Reginabambina exactly! people thinking of their current situation (100 or 80% salary without work), but not of thinking if you can buy bread or milk (or put the heat on)

The economy dying and people dying of Coronavirus are not mutually exclusive events. Both are happening concurrently. Even if we removed the restrictions tomorrow, we simply don't know how to even model which would create the most deaths and human suffering in the long term. For the poorest in society,what will matter is not the general health of the economy, but the willingness of the government to get into debt in the medium term to prevent those people from suffering. As we have seen in the years of austerity when national debt wasn't really as big of a problem as the govt made out, people without much money or with disabilities suffer as much for ideological reasons as they do due to the actual balance book.

People clearly don't understand the risk of death that comes with long term economic recession. Or else they don't care because they'd rather save one 85 year relative than consider the many, many deaths they're causing through long term lockdown.

Or people understand that the economy is something primarily human in design and construct and longer term and so it could be possible to create a more equal society, thus reducing the impact of recession and poverty

And people understand that the type of recession that may occur from a rampant virus is likely to be harder to control because it will be associated with the death of the NHS ( which hits the poor harder) and social unrest ( making societal rebalancing much)

It's a long term problem versus a short term one. You have more time to fix the long term one

People are enjoying sitting on their arses and getting paid 80% salary and in no way want to return to work due to that as a reason, but citing coronavirus fears instead.

It’s
Bullshit.

People clearly don't understand the risk of death that comes with long term economic recession. Or else they don't care because they'd rather save one 85 year relative than consider the many, many deaths they're causing through long term lockdown

Said by someone who clearly mustn’t have lost anyone close to them during this pandemic.

What a disgustingly thoughtless remark.

As many people believe Universal Credit affords people a life of luxury they'll all be desperate to sign up I suppose.

People are enjoying sitting on their arses

Why is the reactionary phrase always “sitting on their arses”?

What else are people going to sit on? And don’t a lot of people sit more when working than when they’re at home (given out service economy)?

YANBU. The BoE has said that the lockdown will cost £9000 per household this year even if it only lasts to June. I imagine that support for it would be a lot lower if we all had to pay the cost now rather than borrow it for someone else to pay for it.

And let us now forget that 1% of the deaths are in the under 45s and the vast vast majority are in the over 70s. I want my 80 year old dad to live but he is facing losing a year of healthy life where he has to be in isolation without seeing his family and is really really struggling. Already he is less mobile than a few months ago due to lower activity and is aging fast. Video calls really do not make up for time with family and frankly he does not have many healthy years left. By the time a vaccine comes, it may be too late for him.

@formerchild what a horrible comment, also incorrect as I’m worried about sending my preschooler back to nursery as my brother works in a hospital in London currently treating around 30 under 5s with COVID linked Kawasaki disease.

There are a lot of people on MN who seem to think it's the government's job just to keep shelling out 80% of their salary ad infinitum to allow them to sit in their houses.

They don't understand that "the government" doesn't have any money, it comes from businesses and individuals paying tax.

The economy hasn't stopped. The important jobs are still being done it's just they arent necessarily lucrative to the billionaires. Capitalism will weed out the weak businesses anyway. It's how the system is supposed to work.

How do you know a larger portion of the population won't be sending their children back to school or go back work
Evidence please
Or is this something someone posted on Facebook after sitting on their arse all day?