What is Undeclared Economy

Given the intimacy of food preparation and service, the close proximity of diners and staff, the general inability to eat comfortably while masked, the warm emotional atmospherics of restaurants, and the limits to restaurant ventilation, the current SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic has meant shutdowns of restaurants across the United States early in the pandemic and then partial re-openings later with public health constraints. Some restaurants applied for the Small Business Administration (SBA)'s Paycheck Protection Program's funds in March 2020 to cover 2.5 months maximum of costs. Huge swaths of the restaurant industry have closed permanently, and many others are slated to close in the near future. Based on a content analysis, this work explores the plight of restaurant workers in the academic research and mass media literature and applies abductive reasoning to propose an approach for a policy mix that may better inform the present challenges with social justice considerations.