Strippers are back on the job but COVID rules are hurting their pay

Brittney, a Sacramento-based stripper, plays with her dog Blue at her home in Sacramento, California, on April 17, 2021. REUTERS/Brittany Hosea-Small

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When California stripper Brittney, 26, walked into San Francisco’s reopened Gold Club stripping venue again in April after a year, she was confronted with masked-up dancers and just a clutch of patrons.

“My heart just sank. This is just so, so sad,” said Brittney, who asked that her last name not be disclosed to protect her 6-year-old son. An hour of that four-hour shift was spent just waiting for customers and she earned $150, less than a third of what she would have made pre-pandemic.