CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) – About 4 in 10 Americans say they still feel the financial impact of losing a job or income in their household as the economic recovery remains uneven a year after the coronavirus pandemic.
A new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research provides further evidence that the pandemic has been devastating for some Americans, while others have been left virtually unharmed or even in better shape, at least when it comes to their finances. The outcome often depended on the type of job a person had and their pre-pandemic income level.
The pandemic has especially hurt black and Latino households, as well as younger Americans, some of whom are now experiencing the second major economic crisis of their adult lives.
“I just felt like we were already in a more difficult position, so (the pandemic) threw us even more in the mud,” said Kennard Taylor, a 20-year-old black student at Jackson College. Taylor lost his job as a server in the campus cafeteria in the early weeks of the pandemic and struggled to pay rent and car while continuing his studies. He had to move back in with his family.
The poll found that about half of Americans say they experienced at least one form of family income loss during the pandemic, including 25% having faced a layoff from the household and 31% saying someone in the household planned fewer hours. In total, 44% said their household suffered a loss of income as a result of the pandemic, which continues to affect their finances.
The survey results are consistent with recent economic data. According to the Department of Labor, about 745,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the week of Feb. 22, and about 18 million Americans remain on the unemployment list.
Thirty percent of Americans say their current household income is lower than when the pandemic started, while 16% say it is higher and 53% say no change has occurred. About half of those who experienced some form of income loss during the pandemic say their current household income is lower than it was.
The poll’s findings reflect what some economists have called a “K-shaped recovery,” where fortunes among Americans diverge. Those with office jobs were able to switch to working from home, while those working in hard-hit industries such as entertainment, dining, and travel suffered. The poor are struggling to recover financially compared to the wealthy and black and Latino households have not recovered as well as their white counterparts.
Logan DeWitt, 30, kept his government job during the pandemic because he could work remotely. But his wife, a childcare worker, lost her job and returned to school after months of searching for a new one. Their financial situation was further complicated by the fact that their first child was born in the first months of the pandemic.
“We had plans to buy a house. We had to scrap that idea and we consolidated into just one car. We cook a lot at home and buy in large quantities, ”says DeWitt.
About 1 in 10 Americans say they have not been able to make a housing payment in the past month because of the pandemic, and about the same number say that from a credit card bill. In total, about a quarter of Americans say they have been unable to pay one or more bills in the past month.
Thirty-eight percent of Hispanics and 29% of black Americans have experienced a layoff at some point in their household in the past year, compared to 21% of white Americans.
This recession has also been particularly tough for younger Americans. Forty percent of Americans under the age of 30 now report a lower income, compared to March 2020. About 4 in 10 have fewer hours scheduled. About a quarter say they have quit their job. Many millennials, who experienced the Great Recession early in their adult lives, are now going through another major financial crisis.
Congress is about to finalize the Biden government’s stimulus package that includes help for many Americans and businesses still feeling the impact of the pandemic. Timing is critical – many of the emergency relief measures previously passed by Congress, particularly unemployment benefits, will come to an end in the coming weeks.
“It’s really going to help us,” said Nikki Luman, 43, from Ohio. Luman worked part-time in her local library, which had to close in the first weeks of the pandemic. The library is still running at a low capacity due to COVID limitations, which translates into fewer hours per week for her.
“That’s $ 400 a month we’ve been missing for the past year,” she said.
Things aren’t as dire for some Americans as they were in the early stages of the pandemic, in part because of the earlier steps taken by Washington. Lifestyle changes – eating out less, traveling less, no live entertainment – have also made it possible for some Americans to make their financial lives healthier. In the poll, about 4 in 10 say they have saved more money than usual, and about 3 in 10 paid off their debts faster than usual.
Tracie Jurgens, 44, works in the transportation industry. Jurgens said her income evaporated in the first weeks of the pandemic as demand for truck drivers plummeted. Jurgen’s boss was able to get a loan through the Small Business Paycheck Protection Program, which he used to purchase new equipment over the summer as things started to recover.
“I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t bought another truck,” she said.
Swanson reported from Washington. AP Reporter Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report from Washington.
The AP-NORC survey of 1,434 adults was conducted Feb. 25-March 1 using a sample of NORC’s Probability-Based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
Online:
AP-NORC Center: http://www.apnorc.org/.