Thread by @ChrisMurphyCT

I just met Aretha, who lives in Hartford’s south end, during my walk across Connecticut. #WalkCT

1/ Let me tell you her story to provide some color on the reality of the new post-pandemic economy.

2/ For years, she was employed as a food service worker at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Wethersfield. It was a good paying, full time job, just a bus ride from her home.

Last year, when DMV employees began working from home, she got laid off.

3/ Aretha liked that job, so she stayed on unemployment hoping she would be rehired. But when that didn’t happen, she started furiously looking for work.

Sure, she still had unemployment, but she WANTED to work. Especially since she knew UI wasn’t forever.

4/ But she found that when she got offered jobs, it was for far less than she made at DMV and mostly it was for less than 40 hours a week.

“I need 5 days a week to pay my bills,” she told me.

5/ So Aretha is still out of work. She applies for jobs every day but she needs a job that pays a living wage, not a job that keeps her in poverty while making her ineligible for UI or SNAP.

In short, she needs work to pay. And right now, it doesn’t.