A new study finds that people from lower-income communities were less likely to follow stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic because they could not afford to comply or their work could not be done remotely.
By analyzing the mobile phone location data from 45 million anonymous mobile devices in the twelve most-populated regions in the U.S., researchers were able to explore the correlation between the time spent at home and current economic status. The May study was published in Annals of the American Association of Geographers.
According to Sicheng Wang, a recent graduate of the Bloustein School’s Ph.D. program and Hanxue Wei, co-authors of the study, the U.S. government—as well as employers—can help vulnerable communities remain safe and get vaccinated through many different means.