COMMUNITY AWARENESS
Pandemic Disrupted Labor Markets but Had Modest Impact on Retirement Timing
These are some of the effects of the
pandemic that started around 2019
on the people of Lee county.
Affordable healthcare, reassessing of
careers and changes to work-life priorities
However, it seems that the impact of the
disruption has been rather mild considering
the situation of Retirement in the area.
For instance, there is a shortage of
teachers in Lee county currently. And
actually about 1800 Hillsborough county
schools district leaders have vacated
their duties which leaves the institutions
in a vacancy mess. Today the institution
has job openings of around 566 slots. A
massive increase from what it was last
year at 181.
In fact, the labour market impact is
evident in the county’s shedding around
$4 million from its allocation through the
federal government to cushion the unemployment
jab.
Even, here is how the statistics rack
up to make this a valid assessment of the
situation: In 2020, information regarding
the labour force status shows that the
number of adults between 55-70 who
claimed to be retired had only slightly
dipped between January and December.
Also, only 2.9 % of the adults had retired
early and were planning to retire due
to the pandemic, while 2.5% were delaying
or planned to delay for the same reason.
would want to retire later than planned
due to the set back injected by the occurrence
of the pandemic.
Although we cannot lay actual fingers
on what the statistics for retirement in Lee
county look like, from an unemployment
chart, it is apparent that the employment
rate dipped aggressively in 2019 and began
to rise steadily to date.
Also, we can draw a healthy assumption
that only slightly more people of
retirement age were looking forward to
adding a few years to make up for lost
time. Regardless it all boils down to a
very minimal impact on the entire retirement
picture.
Hence, there is no significant change
to how seniors have retired differently
from how it used to be before the pandemic
even though employment rates
dropped significantly and are now beginning
to get back up
But are there any impacts on pension?
Now considering that we are discussing
the effects of the pandemic, it is worth
looking into the role of health in the labour
force and retirements in Florida at
least.
The extent of unemployment in Florida
at one time meant that people were
waiting longer to get employment benefits.
And one of the major reasons for
unstable government pensions is the fact
that the government likely accrued high
debts as a result of the global pandemic.
This would lead to a lack of sufficient
funds for pension loans. So while
the pandemic did not exactly impact
how many people were retiring early or
extending their retirements. It did affect
other outcomes.
For instance, we’ve already discovered
how, slightly, people retiring were
deferring retirements, this allowed them
to make up for their pension shortcomings.
But that’s for how people reacted.
What about the government?
Around 2020, the government came
up with several support mechanisms,
some of which were for people to access
more benefits from their pension than
they normally get.
Yet something unique happened
to the Health sector in Lee county. Lee
health was freezing salaries and cutting
benefits for all 13500 workers. The reason?
There was a $20 million financial
shortcoming and the villain was Covid
19. It was even the first time in 9 years
that the health system put a stop to all
employee raises which was about 3%
every year. Lee Health also cancelled
all major projects except expanding the
Gulf coast medical centre in south East
Meyers.
A matter of push and pull on different
sides is the case with the effects of
the pandemic on the labor market in Lee
County, Florida. Although the health sector’s
workers didn’t really have it smooth,
overall there haven’t been any major
changes.
Yet, generally in the United States,
there has been high unemployment
among older adults. and the volatility
in the stock market, reduction of income
and retirement savings point towards a
steady decline in people’s finances and
the need to hold on to their jobs for a little
longer at least.
COMMUNITY AWARENESS
Mental Health Struggles Higher Among LGBT Adults Than Non-LGBT Adults in All Age Groups
Regardless of age, lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) adults
have consistently reported higher
rates of symptoms of both
anxiety and depression than
non-LGBT adults during the
COVID-19 pandemic, according
to a new analysis of the U.S.
Census Bureau’s experimental
Household Pulse Survey (HPS).
Previous Census Bureau
research showed that LGBT
adults – both those living alone
and with others – experienced
more mental health challenges
than non-LGBT respondents.
The current research expands
that analysis by also examining
LGBT and non-LGBT respondents
by age.
Household Pulse Survey and Mental Health
The Household Pulse Survey
provides insight into respondents’
mental health and
well-being.
Since the HPS began in April
2020, it has asked two questions
related to symptoms of
anxiety and two questions about
symptoms of depression.
In July 2021, it added questions
about sexual orientation
and gender identity (SOGI).
This analysis relies on data
from two different collection
phases of the survey to assess
the pandemic’s mental health
toll on U.S. adults 18 years and
older:
Phase 3.2: July 21–October
20, 2021 (approximately 6.2 million
invitations
sent, 382,908 responses,
response rate of 6.1%).
Phase 3.2: July 21–October
20, 2021 (approximately 6.2 million
invitations sent, 382,908 responses,
response rate of 6.1%).
The reason these collection
cycles were selected: Phase
3.2 was the first one to include
SOGI questions and Phase 3.5
covered a period about a
year
later and further from the onset
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mental Health Challenges and Age
LGBT respondents to the
HPS are younger on average
than non-LGBT respondents.
Approximately 40% of LGBT
respondents in Phase 3.5 were
between ages 18 and 29 compared
with only about 13% of
non-LGBT respondents.
Conversely, adults ages 65
and older made up only about
7% of LGBT respondents but
nearly a quarter of non-LGBT
respondents.
According to the survey,
younger respondents, whether
they are LGBT or non-LGBT,
struggled more with both anxiety
and depression symptoms,
but younger LGBT respondents
struggled the most.
In Phase 3.5, about 35% of
non-LGBT respondents ages
18 to 29 reported symptoms of
anxiety, compared with 61% of
LGBT respondents in this age
group.
In contrast, only about 14%
of non-LGBT and 19% of LGBT
respondents ages 65 and up reported
anxiety symptoms
LGBT respondents reported
higher levels of anxiety symptoms
than non-LGBT respondents
in all age groups.
The survey’s findings were
similar for those who reported
symptoms of depression. Half of
LGBT respondents ages 18-29
reported symptoms of depression,
compared with about 29%
of non-LGBT respondents in
this age group.
Depression symptoms also
COMMUNITY AWARENESS
declined with age – about 16%
of LGBT respondents and 11%
of non-LGBT respondents ages
65 and up in this group reported
feeling depressed.
LGBT adults reported higher
levels of anxiety and depression
symptoms than non-LGBT respondents
in both Phases 3.2
and 3.5 of the survey, indicating
the persistence of these disparities
over time, even multiple
years into the COVID-19 pandemic
(Figure 3).
As Figure 3a illustrates,
younger LGBT respondents
(about 60%) in both phases
were more likely to report anxiety
symptoms than older LGBT
respondents.
Anxiety symptoms among
LGBT respondents 65 and up
abated somewhat as the pandemic
progressed: about 26%
reported anxiety symptoms in
Phase 3.2, compared to only
19% in Phase 3.5.
Figure 3b shows results for
depression symptoms. In both
phases of the survey, at least
half of young LGBT respondents
reported depression symptoms
but the share of those 65 and
up with depression symptoms
decreased from about a quarter
during Phase 3.2 to about 16%
during Phase 3.5.
Taken together, these findings
reveal how symptoms of
anxiety and depression vary
across age groups by LGBT status
and over time.
Younger adults, especially
LGBT adults, were the most
susceptible to both conditions.
Conversely, older, non-LGBT
adults were less likely to report
either anxiety or depression
symptoms.
Defining LGBT
The HPS initially asked respondents
to identify only their
sex (male or female). Since July
2021, the survey has included
three SOGI questions.
The first asks about assigned
sex at birth:
What sex were you assigned
at birth on your original birth
certificate? (Choice of answers:
Male or Female.)
The next question asks about current gender self-identification:
Do you currently describe
yourself as male, female, or
transgender? (Choice of answers:
Male, Female, Transgender,
or None of these.)
The latest version of the survey now also asks about sexual orientation:
Which of the following best
represents how you think of
yourself? (Choice of answers:
Gay or lesbian; Straight, that
is not gay or lesbian; Bisexual;
Something else; or I don’t know.)
Survey respondents are categorized
as LGBT if they report
a sex at birth that does not align
with their current gender identity;
report a sexual orientation
of gay, lesbian or bisexual; or if
they currently identify as transgender.
Respondents whose sex at
birth aligns with their current
gender identity and who select
Straight on the sexual orientation
question are categorized as
non-LGBT.
Respondents who select
None of these on the current
gender question and either
Something else, I don’t
know,
or Straight on the sexual orientation
question are categorized
as “Other.”
Additionally, respondents
whose sex at birth aligns with
their current gender identity but
who select either Something
else or I don’t know on the sexual
orientation question are also
categorized as “Other.”
Survey questions related to
sexual orientation and gender
identity aim to understand the
effect of the pandemic across
different subpopulations.
However, because the HPS
is designed to rapidly produce
experimental estimates, exercise
caution when using these
results as standalone markers
of the prevalence of LGBT
adults in the general population.
Measuring Anxiety and Depression Symptoms
The survey asks four mental
health questions, two relating to
symptoms of anxiety and two
about symptoms of depression.
These questions were developed
in partnership with the
National Center for Health Statistics
(NCHS). This analysis
follows an approach outlined by
NCHS, which categorizes individuals
based on how frequently
they reported feeling anxious or
depressed, consistent with diagnoses
of generalized anxiety
disorder or major depressive
disorder.
Near Real-Time Data
The HPS is designed to provide
near real-time data on how
the pandemic has affected people’s
lives. Information on the
methodology and reliability of
these estimates can be found in
the Source and Accuracy statements
for each data release.
These statements also include
information on the invitations
and response rates.
Data users interested in
state-level sample sizes, the
number of respondents, weighted
response rates and occupied
housing unit coverage ratios
can review the quality measures
file, available on the Household
Pulse Survey Technical Documentation
webpage.
In comparison to other Census
Bureau surveys, HPS response
rates are low and data
users should exercise caution
when interpreting estimates
from the survey, especially with
regard to the impact of potential
non-response bias.
As a part of the Census Bureau’s
experimental data series,
the HPS was designed to have
low respondent burden, provide
quick turnaround on product releases
and produce estimates
that meet urgent public needs.
All estimates discussed here
were calculated from public-use
microdata files.
COMMUNITY AWARENESS
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