Therapists that cater to the 1% are seeing a surge in business during the coronavirus outbreak, Mark Ellwood reported for Bloomberg.
While many people are experiencing heightened anxiety because of the virus, the wealthy are bringing their own unique set of pandemic problems to their therapists, who are dealing with clients like affluent couples who've never spent so much time alone together, Manhattan mothers learning to cook for the first time, and New Yorkers fretting about finding the perfect vacation rental in the Hamptons.
Ginger Poag, a therapist outside of Nashville whose clients include high-profile figures in the country music scene, told Bloomberg that she's been 20% busier than usual. Darby Fox, who's based in Connecticut and works with high-powered Wall Street financiers, said her business is up by a third since the start of the pandemic in the US.Advertisement"One patient is neurotic that she won't find a 'great' Hamptons rental, because all the prices will be sky-high because people in
Meanwhile, 30 million people have filed for unemployment during the pandemic, many of whom are struggling to pay rent. Almost one in three tenants did not pay April rent in the first week of the month.
"The biggest dilemma of her day right now is which brownie mix to buy at the grocery store," Hayes told Bloomberg. "She is loving it in some ways — staying at home, acting like a domestic goddess. But I don't think she will keep cooking once this all passes. It's fun, but it's vacation-style fun."
The pandemic is highlighting America's stark inequality problem
Tens of millions of people in America have lost their jobs in recent weeks, with low-wage workers affected the worst. A Pew survey found that most people making more than $100,000 said they would continue to get paid if they had to miss work for at least two weeks because of the virus, while only 16% of those making under $30,000 said the same.
As Kate Taylor recently wrote for Business Insider, the coronavirus outbreak is shining a light on the vast disparities between the rich and poor in America.
"Wealthy people are paying private labs for coronavirus tests, taking private jets out of infected areas, and spending thousands of dollars stockpiling air purifiers, Ebola hazmat suits, and $4,000 cuts of meat," Taylor wrote. "Meanwhile, more than half of American jobs are at risk, with some workers already relying on GoFundMe donations and others risking exposure while working in fast food or retail."
Yet it's the wealthy, who are more likely to be able to work from home, that are likely than lower earners to say their lives have changed in a major way because of the coronavirus, according to a recent Pew Research Center report based on a survey of more than 11,500 Americans.AdvertisementJudy Ho says her high-net-worth Los Angeles clients are feeling vulnerable in a way they aren't used to.
"Because of their