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When Jason Depretis and his fiancée lost their Florida restaurant jobs in early March, they started falling behind on their rent and their car payment.

With the extra $600 a week, Mr. Depretis, 42, would probably have been able to pay enough to hold off both creditors.

For families like Mr. Depretis’s, even a temporary loss of income can be the start of a downward spiral, said Elizabeth Ananat, a Barnard College economist who has been studying the pandemic’s impact on low-wage workers.

Everything felt normal until the news alert popped up on Cindy Depretis’s cellphone Tuesday afternoon.

Cheryl DePretis, who has been coming to Holy Angels for more than 40 years, finally decided to read the report because she works as the church assistant, and she wanted to know how to answer calls that were coming in.