New data shows that between two and four million working-age Americans have long COVID-19 symptoms that are so severe they cannot work, the Brookings Institution says in a report published this week.
The Brookings Institution studied data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, and found that roughly 16 million Americans between 18 and 65, which is considered working age, have long COVID symptoms. This means a person is still experiencing symptoms three or more months after contracting COVID-19.
It's estimated that there are 10.6 million unfilled jobs in the U.S., the Brookings Institution says, with lost wages ranging from $170 billion to $230 billion a year. In order to try to combat long COVID's effect on the U.S. workforce, the report suggests employers consider expanding policies like ensuring workers receive paid sick leave. Currently, more than 25 percent of workers in the private sector do not have paid sick leave, The Guardian reports, and when looking at the bottom 25 percent of earners, more than half are without it.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive orderspeed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
