Pandemic at ground level: Working mom’s two jobs vanish

SANDWICH — Sarah Norton had been working as a preschool teacher and restaurant server before the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, the 39-year-old former Marine is unemployed, staying at home with her two children and worrying about finances.

“As a single mom, working three jobs to make ends meet and with a car payment, electric, oil and rent, I was barely making ends meet as is,” she said Tuesday. 

Norton said the Sandwich Children’s Center gave her one week’s salary when it closed at the start of this week. 

On Sunday, Gov. Chris Sununu ordered all K-12 public school districts to close and transition to remote instruction through April 3, but for preschools, it’s a mixed bag, some are staying open and some are shuttered.

In Laconia, the Open Door Preschool and Childcare Center remains open, with extra precautions, said its owner, Pam Hughes.

Hughes said parents depend on her and she feels she can operate safely by stepping up sanitation and sterilization, not allowing any parents or siblings in the building, not providing any tours and not allowing any new enrollment. She had 28 children in her center Wednesday, ranging from 6 weeks old to 5 years old.

“I belong to a providers network group and all have mixed emotions, wondering why they were not mandated to close, whether they need to be open,” she said.

Child care is a low-margin business, so a closure would be a major financial hit, as would continuing to operate at a time when many parents remove their children.

Restaurants close

On Monday, Sununu ordered all restaurants to suspend dine-in service and that meant the end of Norton’s employment as a server at Common Man properties and the Corner House Inn in Sandwich.

Some restaurants are continuing take-out and drive-through service, which allows some employees to retain their jobs.

“But that more affects the cooks and management,” Norton said. “There’s no need for servers and bartenders.”

Even if a restaurant would keep her employed to deliver food to people in the parking lot, her income would drop sharply because she depends on tips.

Unemployment help 

Norton has been encouraged to file for unemployment compensation, but she has found that’s no easy task.

The state has recommended that people file online or by phone, but Norton said access has been a problem on the unemployment website.

“I was on for over an hour, but they’re just being overloaded, I kept getting kicked off,” she said.

In addition to unemployment compensation, other help could be made available.

The White House has indicated it wants to send checks to Americans in the coming weeks to help stem the financial impact of the pandemic.

Talk of such a cash infusion shows just how much the virus outbreak has changed thinking in Washington.

Monumental changes

Russ Thibeault, president of Applied Economic Research and one of the directors for the Bank of New Hampshire, had a metaphor for the startling and fast-paced changes that have taken place since the first cases of coronavirus were identified in China in late December and early January. 

“This is really unprecedented, it’s like lightning hitting all over the world at the same time out of a blue sky,” he said. “As we speak, we don’t know how bad it’s going to get and don’t know how long it will last.”

He said the Lakes Region’s major reliance on the tourism industry could make it more vulnerable to economic disruption in times when so many people are hunkering down in their homes, large gatherings are banned and restaurant dine-in service is closed.

LRGHealthcare is the Lakes Region’s largest employer, and it will certainly be busy in the coming days as will supermarkets.

“The financial impact will vary from household to household and business to business,” Thibeault said. “Larger businesses have more options than a small mom-and-pop type business.”

Part of the impact to households is a loss of retirement savings. The level of the S&P 500 has tumbled by almost one-third since Feb. 20.

There may be a small window of opportunity to time the market and invest to catch the next sustained upswing, but that is a gamble.

“The problem with that is, it’s like trying to catch a falling knife in the dark,” Thibeault said. 

Household finances

But the issue for many households, like Norton’s, is just getting by week to week and month to month.

“I have an amazing landlord who has offered to waive the next month’s rent for me and help me out,” she said. “I let them know about my predicament.”

Also, the governor has issued an emergency order prohibiting evictions and foreclosures during the current State of Emergency.

Such orders and a potential federal cash infusion to households are important because most people do not have the ability to absorb a major loss of income, said Eric Herr, of Hill, an economist who served on the staff of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

“A whole lot of people can't afford a several hundred dollar surprise,” he said. “I don't know what they do to cope.”

Business effects

Businesses will feel the effect of reduced consumer spending.

“Remember, personal consumption expenditures account for 70 percent of the economy,” Herr said.”People have spent a lot in the last couple weeks to build up a stockpile, but in the next few weeks spending will drop and there will be no place to spend it.”

Businesses with low profit margins will be particularly hard pressed.

“Most restaurants are in that category, as well as some entertainment venues,” he said. “I wonder if it persists into the middle of summer and a lot of places aren't open, will second homeowners come up here or will they defer putting boats into the water.

“When you come up here, there are expenses to open up your second home. Whether they want to do that depends on what things are like in the Boston area, for example.”

So far, local supply lines seem intact, but the concept of just-in-time inventory management means many businesses do not maintain the kind of inventories that can weather much of a supply disruption, Herr said. 

Meantime, fear has led to over-buying and some shortages.

Anxiety builds

Norton said children are not immune to that kind of fear. She has a 14-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son. 

“My daughter is more stressed out about going anywhere, she’s nervous about that,” Norton said. “My son is nervous about online instruction. Middle school is a challenge anyway.”

Norton’s parents are deceased and she doesn’t have family in the local area, but she said friends and colleagues have made offers of assistance should she need it.

“We have an amazing supportive community in Sandwich,” she said. “Parents and people around town know the position I’m in and have offered to help out.

“It’s pretty heartwarming, how supportive they are. I’m known as a pretty stubborn person. It’s hard for me to take help, but I appreciate people offering it.”

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To contact Rick Green, email rick@laconiadailysun.com.