Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-03-16)

◼ COVID-19 /US Bloomberg Businessweek March 16, 2020

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meltdownofMarch 2011 drewnewattentiontothe

needsofsingledadsinthecountryandprompted

broadersocialemphasisonactivefathering.It

“changedmen’ssenseofvalueinhouseworkpartic-

ipation,”saysTetsuyaAndo,headofadvocacyorga-

nizationFatheringJapan.“Thecoronaviruswillhave

a similarsocialimpact.”

If so,whetherthechangespersistisanother

question.Inthewakeofthe 2008 financialcrisis,

necessitypushedmorewomenintotheworkforce,

conferringmorechild-careresponsibilitiesonnewly

unemployedmen,butastheeconomyimproved,

mosthouseholdsrevertedtothepre-crisis division

of labor, says the ILO’s Addati. The coronavirus cri-

sis is an opportunity to challenge entrenched social

dynamics in a way that benefits both women and

men. “We have to think of ourselves as all being care

providers and all being care recipients,” she says.

“It should be our responsibility to make sure every-

one can take care of himself, his loved ones, and

make sure the workplace is safe for everybody.”

�JanetPaskin,withBeiHuandGraceHuang

○Youwanttodowhatyoucantoprotectyourself

andothersfromthespreadofthenewcoronavirus.

You’realreadywashingyourhandsraw,bumping

elbowsinsteadofshakinghands,pressingelevator

buttonswithyourknuckles,andvaliantlyfighting

theurgetotouchyourface.Whatelsecanyoudo

tofightCovid-19?Well,youcouldjustworkfrom

hometodayinsteadofgoingtotheoffice.

I know,I know:Mostpeoplecan’tdothat.Only

29%ofU.S.workersina 2017-18U.S.Bureauof

LaborStatisticssurveysaidtheyhadtheoptionto

dotheirjobsfromhome.Thosewhocantendto

havemuchhigherincomesandeducationlevels

thanthosewhocan’t.Doingyourjobviaaninter-

netconnectionis simplynota possibilityformost

peopleworkinginretail,foodservice,manufactur-

ing,healthcare,andlotsofothersectors.

ButthisisBloombergBusinessweek, and,accord-

ingtotheBLS,60%ofpeopleinmanagement,busi-

ness,andfinancialoccupationscanworkfrom

home.If you’rereadingthis,there’sa goodchance

youcanWFHatleastsomeofthetime.There’s

alsoa goodchanceyouremployerwillbeorder-

ingorstronglyencouragingyoutostayawayfrom

theofficeinthenearfuture,asseveralprominent

techcompaniesalreadyhave.Butyoudon’thave

towait.

Thinkofit asyourownlittlecontributionto

loweringR0, thereproductionnumber,generally

pronounced“r-naught.”R0 istheaveragenum-

berofpeopleaninfectedpersonis likelytoinfect,

thusdeterminingwhetheranepidemicspreads

(R0 > 1) orpetersout(R0 < 1).It variesbydisease,

withmeaslesataspectacularlycontagious 15 or

so,andtheaveragefortheseasonalfluusually

around1.3.CurrentestimatesofCovid-19’sR0 are

inthe2s.

ChangingbehaviorcanchangetheeffectiveR0,

though.OnewaytothinkofR0 is thatit’stheprob-

abilityofinfectiongivencontactwithaninfectious

person,multipliedby thecontactrate,multi-

pliedbytheinfectiousduration.Hand-washing,

elbow-bumping,andthelikebringR0 downbylow-

eringtheprobabilityofinfectiongivencontactwith

aninfectiousperson.Workingfromhomedoesit

byreducingthenumberofcontacts.

●Isitmoreeffectivethan

closingschools?

Bynotgoingtotheoffice,andbystayingoffpublic

transportationif that’showyouusuallygetthere,

you’renotjustprotectingyourselffromthevirus,

you’realsoprotectingeveryonewhostillhastogo

intoworkortakethetrainorbus.Suchbehavior

is often labeled social distancing. It may feel a bit

anti-social, but during an epidemic it’s actually

quite pro-social.

In China, making everybody stay home seems

to have brought the coronavirus’s R0 below the

disease-spreading threshold, at least temporarily.

More limited shutdowns such as school closings

have also been shown to play a role in curbing or

at least slowing past influenza epidemics.

Why should more of

us work from home?