Millennial workers in Sonoma County are feeling financial sting caused by the pandemic

Brandi Caulfield was in middle school in Santa Rosa the last time the economy collapsed. Her memories of the Great Recession in 2008 are fuzzy, but she does recall the stress it caused her family.

“I remember having a conversation with my mom and asking if she was going to lose her job,” she recalled. “I remember asking her that numerous times and just being worried.”

Although Caulfield’s mother wasn’t laid off, providing for her daughter as a single mom living paycheck to paycheck often was a struggle. It was around that time Caulfield decided she didn’t ever want to find herself in a similar financial predicament as an adult.

Now 23, she’s working toward her bachelor’s degree in city planning at Sonoma State University. She also had been holding down a part-time restaurant gig and a paid internship with the city of San Rafael. But after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out both of those jobs last month, her plan for making a better life for herself is on hold.

As the country faces an uncertain recovery from the economic carnage wrought by the global COVID-19 outbreak, younger adults like Caulfield are feeling the sting of a second “once-in-a-lifetime” recession. Many are scrambling to cover rent, make student loan payments and support their families - and appear largely unprepared to withstand the expected prolonged downturn.

In March, Sonoma County’s overall unemployment rate soared to 3.6%, the highest level in nearly three years. But that number only reflects 2,000 job losses the second week of March, before the county’s public health emergency stay-home order took effect on March 18. Almost 25,000 people in the county filed applications for unemployment benefits last month. For the entire country, that figure has grown to over 22 million.

While older people are more at risk of contracting the highly contagious virus, it’s younger workers with little to no savings who are often the most vulnerable financially. Those ages 22 to 37 tend to have accumulated less wealth, shoulder more student loan debt and are less likely to own a home than previous generations at the same age, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.

That disparity is far more pronounced for young adults without a college degree, who make up a majority of the millennial generation. Those without a college degree are more likely to work lower-paying jobs in industries including retail, restaurants and tourism, which have been among the hardest hit during the virus-induced shutdown of business and industry. Together, those large portions of the services sector make up about a quarter of the local economy in Sonoma County, said Robert Eyler, an economics professor at Sonoma State.

“The slowness by which those industries are likely to emerge could be painful for younger adults,” Eyler said.

Violeta Gill, 32, was let go from her job at the front desk of the River Terrace Inn in Napa last month. That was about a week after her husband Rocco, who works for a private contracting company, had his hours slashed. The couple recently moved into an apartment in Rohnert Park with their two children and are anxious about paying rent.

“Even with us filing for unemployment, I’m very scared of not being able to make ends meet,” she said.

According to a report by RentCafe, a rental listings site, millennials spend 45% of their monthly income on rent - well above the recommended one-third - by the time they’re 30. That heavy cost helps explain why just 38% of those under 35 own homes, a key factor in accumulating wealth, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In Sonoma County, where home rental costs far exceed the national average, the Board of Supervisors has provided renters some relief by approving a temporary halt on evictions. But tenants still could end up on the hook for missed rent payments.

Having enough money to pay rent is also a concern for Brittany Kilgore, 29, who was furloughed from her job at the card room in the Parkwest Casino Sonoma in Petaluma. Kilgore and her two children, ages 5 and 10, share a two-bedroom apartment in Santa Rosa with her father and stepmom.

Kilgore is still waiting for her unemployment benefits to start, but recently received her $1,200 ?federal stimulus check. She also has a few thousand dollars in savings, but worries that won’t be enough to cover about $700 she contributes to rent each month, in addition to her car payment and the extra groceries she buys now that her children are stuck at home. Another concern is her employer health insurance, which she likely will have to start paying in full next month.

“It adds up real quick when you don’t have a steady paycheck coming in,” she said.

About 10 years ago, Kilgore was taking classes at Empire College in Santa Rosa. But after a family emergency, she couldn’t afford the $2,000 fee to reenroll in the program. She’s still paying off her student loans for those classes, but was recently able to pause the roughly $400-a-month payments.

While she looks for temporary work, she’s also taking online courses for a computer science degree.

“I want to find a higher-paying job - be able to take care of my kids better,” she said.

As earning a college degree increasingly has become a prerequisite to what could be considered a middle class existence, education costs have become a growing burden on millennial workers. The average student loan borrower now has $33,000 in debt when starting a career, according to a report by the Washington, D.C., think tank New America.

To ease that load during the pandemic, Congress has temporarily suspended monthly payments and interest on federal student loan debt through the end of September.

Eyler, the economics professor, was optimistic the years ahead actually could provide an opportunity for younger adults to acquire new skills at school and compete well in a “reset” job market once the pandemic is eventually under control. Still, he acknowledged those needing to work while enrolling in classes could be in a difficult position during a long-lasting recession.

“Until you get the degree, that can leave a lot of people behind the eight ball,” he said.

Caulfield, the SSU student who lost her part-time jobs at Superburger and the city of San Rafael, will have about $20,000 in debt after she graduates in 2021. Those costs, coupled with the new economic uncertainty, are causing her to rethink applying to graduate school to pursue a career in city planning. She’s unsure whether such planning positions will be available in coming years if cash-strapped municipalities start to slow down hiring.

“If I go to grad school, is it going to be worth the money and the time and the energy and the years, taking away from time I could be working?” she said.

Caulfield is now staying with her boyfriend’s family in Santa Rosa and is still on her mom’s health insurance plan, which help keep her expenses in check.

If she does decide to eventually apply to a grad program, she’s considering taking a gap year after she finishes at SSU. That would help her save money, start paying her student loans and maybe get her own apartment.

For now though, she’s focusing on her online classes and taking advantage of her downtime by reading and exercising. But having grown up during the last economic crisis, she understands the challenges ahead.

“People are finally starting to heal from the last recession, and it’s all over again,” she said.