The American is no longer spared from poverty

The 50-year-old wealth management consultant living in the northern part of the city didn't lose his job, but the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the demand for his financial services and his income has dropped dramatically.

Like him, more and more people from the lower middle class are falling into poverty as a result of the economic and social ravages of the pandemic that dominate the debates in the November 3 presidential campaign.

"This is the second time I've been here," sighed Keith, who requested anonymity. "I won't come back unless I really need to," said the elegant man in a striped red polo shirt.

America's middle class is no longer immune to poverty.

Montgomery County, where the city of Bethesda, Maryland is located, is one of the richest counties in the United States.

"But even before the pandemic, this thriving county had 65,000 food-insecure people," says Anne Derse, a deacon at St. John's Norwood Episcopal Church, one of the partners in the Nourish Now food bank.

That number quickly climbed to 95,000.

"We thought we would reach 100 to 150 families," she says. We thought we would reach 100 to 150 families," she says. "We're looking at 200 to 250, sometimes more. Volunteers often run out of food to distribute within an hour.

The operation started on August 14 and will continue until February, adds John Ross, who heads the men's ministry in St. John's, while noting the need to find sustainable solutions.

There were many pockets of poverty in the area and there were huge wage gaps, but the pandemic is bringing down families who never imagined they would run out of money to feed themselves.

"This is the first time I've come to ask for food," says Joey, who prefers not to say his name. The 40-year-old with long black hair was fired in April from an old people's home. After drawing on her savings, she has nothing left. 

"On the other side of the fence".

Many people who call us tell us that they have never before had to ask for food because they had a normal salary or someone in the household had one," says Radha Muthiah, President of the Capital Area Food Bank.

The Capital Area Food Bank distributes more than 30 million meals each year in Washington and its nearby suburbs in Maryland and Virginia.

Some of the new "clients" were volunteers, others were even donors to the charity. 

"Now they're on the other side of the fence," Muthiah said.

The number of people picking up a meal has increased dramatically over the past eight months. And it is the two wealthiest counties, Montgomery and Fairfax, Virginia, that are seeing their food insecurity rates increase the most since the beginning of the pandemic.

"So it's very highly correlated with job loss," Muthiah said.

In 2019, the poverty rate had nevertheless fallen to 10.5% in the United States, its lowest level since 1959, the year of the first statistics on the subject.

But a recent study by Columbia University shows that the pandemic has pushed an additional 8 million people into poverty in the United States since May.

First in April and May, generous government assistance ($600 in weekly unemployment benefits and checks to the most vulnerable households) reduced poverty, says Zachary Parolin, who led the study.

Then the curve was reversed "throughout the summer" when these benefits expired. And in August and September, "poverty rates are higher than they were before the crisis began," he notes.

This is "clear proof" that if poverty is to be reduced, Congress must vote on a new aid package "as soon as possible," he adds.

Even if a vaccine becomes available, the economic dislocation will not disappear overnight," said John Ross of St. John's Church.

Government assistance is "essential" to help pay the bills, the rent," says Radha Muthiah. 

In 2019, there were 34 million people living in poverty in the United States.