Since the discovery and spread of COVID-19, the impacts upon businesses, schools, and our lives have been immense. In fact, it’s been a significant driver of unemployment and mental health issues such as a rise in unhappiness, depression, and feelings of alienation for many.
For many families, the closure of schools or hybrid models of learning where a student is on campus a couple of days and at home the rest of the time, has driven many multi-income families to have to make some hard choices. Many parents are reporting a rise in stay-at-home parenting and sacrificing employment and income to monitor and care for children.
Business Closures On The Rise
Due mainly to the many state and local health orders, businesses are once again being asked to shutter their doors and close some, if not all, of their business operations. This volatility directly affects the industries and businesses’ employees, clients, and other companies dependent on them.
Some areas that are hit the hardest are in youth sports, education, and tutoring, Real Estate in some areas has suffered a significant hit while other areas are booming, small retail shops, hotels, and tourist attractions to name some.
Nowhere is this impact felt more than in restaurants and foodservice.
Restaurants On The Ropes
While restaurants are being shuttered except for delivery and take-out, the rules that make punishable on-site dining has been challenged in court. A Los Angeles County judge ruled that LA County public health had acted “arbitrarily” in forbidding outside, on-site dining. Additionally, the court ruled that LA County Public Health’s actions did not override the state’s governing order.
The ruling stemmed from an argument that local restaurant owners had regarding that the movie industry has been allowed to continue operations and host outdoor dining for crew and staff on sets.
Again, while the court agreed that LA County Public Health acted randomly in their ruling, the court also acknowledged that California State Public Health orders took priority over the court’s findings.
Restaurants already operate on the slimmest of margins. In-person dining that allows for alcohol purchase is the industry’s highest profit margins, so losing on-site dining puts a massive hole in a challenging sector, to say nothing of the impact on employees who rely on tips to survive.
For many people, months of economic uncertainty have forced them to be creative in their personal and business finances. Those factors can impact and destroy a person’s credit rating over time.
Unemployment On The Rise
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the State of California, as of December 2020, has an unemployment rate of over 8%, with not much hope in sight for correction in the short-term. As such, lost wages and revenues has taxed many people and businesses.
All of these layoffs and business closures can lead to personal economic problems. From becoming overextended on credit cards, defaulting on student loans and mortgages, and more, the economic impact that has occurred is tremendous.
With Congress still working on more economic relief, people who find themselves struggling to make ends meet need to find alternative income and financing sources. But with the loss of wages, many people have had to turn to credit cards and other financing sources.
Those actions may have impacted their credit ratings due to making it difficult to secure additional loans.
Understand that your credit rating is a score attributable to an individual’s ability and history of paying debts and loans on time.
By analyzing past behavior, the metric predicts for a lender the level of risk a borrower may be in relation to paying any outstanding debts.
For people interested in securing a personal loan, especially personal loans for bad credit, there are places to turn to and options available that are outside the standard lender from a bank.
Creative Ways To Make Ends Meet During Economic Uncertainty
There are several ways to generate some income through creative revenue streams.
While some people have turned to unemployment and pandemic unemployment assistance programs, food banks, and third-party delivery programs such as GrubHub to earn money, others have decided to be more independent.
Another source of income for people is that they have started selling crafts through eBay and other third-party apps. Others have started selling a service to companies that need some freelance assistance.
Meantime others are still juggling between personal loans, credit cards, and other tentative ways to make ends meet. The key is to find flexible sources and methods to earn revenue to help get through these difficult times.
