The pandemic took the lives of more than 740,000 Americans, and each death affects on average nine other people, touching 6.6 million people, according to one study. The American workplace is incompatible with this vast grief, Chad Broughton, PhD, a public policy professor at the University of Chicago, argued in The Atlantic on Nov. 2.
Most U.S. states have no laws that mandate leave for bereavements, and there is no overarching federal policy for it. Whether paid or unpaid leave is offered is usually up to individual companies to decide. This disproportionately affects low-income people, with only 19 percent of the lowest-paid 10 percent of workers saying they could access paid funeral leave.
Some experts are predicting more prolonged-grief disorders that result in persistent, pervasive and disruptive grief as a result of the pandemic. Alan Wolfelt, PhD, the founder and director of the Center for Loss and Life Transition, told Dr. Broughton about the "North American resolution wish." He argues that the American legislature and culture holds the belief that grief should be linear and quick, with employers expecting staff to keep their chins up and get over their loss over time.
Because federal bereavement policies have been scrapped from the "Build Back Better" plan, many workers will continue to have to shoulder the burden of grief while keeping up at work, Dr. Broughton concluded.