How to Build Back Better

Ken Corts: Many people have spent the last few months asking, ‘When will things return to normal?’ But rather than hoping for a return to normal, both of you have talked about the need to ‘build back better’. Please explain.

Sarah Kaplan: One thing that both the COVID-19 crisis and the Black Lives Matter protests point out is that our previous state of ‘normalcy’ was not that great for many people. If you think about who has suffered the most during this crisis, frontline workers are at the top of the list. And the fact is, in most cases these are people who haven’t had the same opportunities and privileges that many of us have enjoyed.

Going forward, the goal can’t be just ‘to get back to where we were’. We have to pay attention to the pervasive inequality that has always been a feature of our society — but that many corporate and political elites have mostly ignored. Inequality should never be viewed as normal or acceptable — and nor should the degradation of our environment. Addressing all of these issues must be part of the rebuild.

KC: Talk a bit more about how the current crisis has highlighted or exacerbated inequality with respect to the workforce.

First of all, unlike previous recessions, more women than men lost their jobs this time around, and there are a few reasons for that. One is the structure of the labour market itself, in which women are much more likely to do part-time work. They are also more likely to have been the most recently hired (and therefore the first to be furloughed) and to work in the