PREVIOUS ARTICLE ALL CONTENTS Next ARTICLE

Poverty in the Pandemic: Policy Lessons from COVID-19, Zachary Parolin

Reviewed by Thomas J. Hayes
 

The COVID-19 pandemic changed many aspects of people's everyday lives, and the political ramifications are still being felt. The widespread and significant disruptions imposed by the pandemic put people who were in or near poverty in an even more difficult situation. In Poverty in the Pandemic: Policy Lessons from COVID-19, Zachary Parolin uses a wealth of data to examine the ways in which poverty influenced the pandemic, how U.S. government actions during the pandemic affected poverty, ways to rethink common measures of poverty, and policy lessons learned.

Because there is no general agreed-upon way to measure poverty, this book takes on a challenge that faces many studies looking at this issue. One of the central contributions of the book is to not only examine poverty from a number of different angles that are common (e.g., employment, income) but also from areas that are often overlooked (e.g., mental health, childcare). Moreover, because one of the most common ways to measure poverty is a yearly measure, the government's Supplemental Poverty Measure has certain benefits, but also many drawbacks—one of the primary ones being that it is a once-yearly snapshot, even though disruptions, such as those many faced during the pandemic, like school closures or loss of employment, can have a significant impact on one's economic well-being.

To continue reading, see options above.

About PSQ's Editor

ROBERT Y. SHAPIRO

Full Access

Join the Academy of Political Science and automatically receive Political Science Quarterly.

CONFERENCES & EVENTS

Academy Forum | The Transatlantic Relationship and the Russia-Ukraine War
January 9, 2025
4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. ET
WEBINAR

MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT VIEW ALL EVENTS

Editor’s spotlight

Virtual Issue

Introduction: Black Power and the Civil Rights Agendas of Charles V. Hamilton
Marylena Mantas and Robert Y. Shapiro

MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC

Search the Archives

Publishing since 1886, PSQ is the most widely read and accessible scholarly journal with distinguished contributors such as: Lisa Anderson, Robert A. Dahl, Samuel P. Huntington, Robert Jervis, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Theda Skocpol, Woodrow Wilson

view additional issues

Most read

Articles | Book reviews

Understanding the Bush Doctrine
Robert Jervis

The Study of Administration
Woodrow Wilson

Notes on Roosevelt's "Quarantine" Speech
Dorothy Borg

view all

New APS Book

Political Conflict in American Politics   POLITICAL CONFLICT IN AMERICAN POLITICS

About US

Academy of Political Science

The Academy of Political Science, promotes objective, scholarly analyses of political, social, and economic issues. Through its conferences and publications APS provides analysis and insight into both domestic and foreign policy issues.

Political Science Quarterly

With neither an ideological nor a partisan bias, PSQ looks at facts and analyzes data objectively to help readers understand what is really going on in national and world affairs.

Stay Connected

newsstand locator
About APS