CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) – Approximately 4 out of 10 Americans say they are still feeling the financial impact of losing a job or income within their families, as the economic recovery remains uneven after a year of the coronavirus pandemic.
New research from the Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center provides further evidence that the pandemic has been devastating for some Americans, leaving others virtually unhurt or even in better shape, at least when it comes to their finances. The outcome usually depended on the type of job the person had and their income level before the pandemic.
The pandemic has particularly affected families of blacks and Latinos, as well as younger Americans, some of whom are now experiencing the second biggest economic crisis of their adult life.
“I felt that we were already in a difficult position, so (the pandemic) kind of pushed us further down the dirt,” said Kennard Taylor, a 20-year-old black college student at Jackson College. Taylor lost his job as a server at the campus cafeteria in the early weeks of the pandemic and had difficulty paying rent and car while continuing his studies. He had to move back in with his family.
The survey shows that about half of Americans claim to have experienced at least one form of loss of family income during the pandemic, including 25% who suffered a home layoff and 31% who say someone in the household had fewer hours of work. Overall, 44% said their families suffered loss of income due to the pandemic that still affects their finances.
The survey results are consistent with recent economic data. Approximately 745,000 Americans filed for unemployment insurance in the week of February 22, according to the Department of Labor, and about 18 million Americans remain on the unemployment lists.
Thirty percent of Americans say their current family income is lower than it was when the pandemic started, while 16% say it is higher and 53% say there has been no change. About half of the people who experienced any form of loss of family income during the pandemic say that their current family income is less than before.
The survey’s findings reflect what some economists call “K-shaped recovery”, where there have been divergent fortunes among Americans. Those with office jobs were able to transition to work from home, while those who worked in hard-hit sectors such as entertainment, restaurants and travel suffered. The poor have struggled to recover financially compared to the rich, and black and Latino families have not recovered as well as their white counterparts.
Logan DeWitt, 30, maintained his government job during the pandemic because he was able to work remotely. But his wife, who worked at the daycare center, lost her job and, after months of looking for a new one, went back to school. His financial situation was further complicated by the fact that his first child was born in the first months of the pandemic.
“We had plans to buy a house. I had to discard that idea and we consolidated into just one car. We cook a lot at home and buy in bulk, ”said DeWitt.
About 1 in 10 Americans says they were unable to pay for their own home last month because of the pandemic, and almost the same number of people say it was due to a credit card bill. Overall, about a quarter of Americans say they were unable to pay one or more bills in the past month.
Thirty-eight percent of Hispanics and 29% of black Americans had laid off their families at some point during the past year, compared with 21% of white Americans.
This recession was also particularly difficult for younger Americans. Forty percent of Americans under the age of 30 report lower income now, compared to March 2020. About 4 out of 10 have been scheduled for fewer hours. About a quarter say they quit their job. Many millennials, who experienced the Great Recession in their early adulthood, are now experiencing another major financial crisis.
Congress is about to finalize the $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package from the Biden government this includes help for many Americans and businesses that are still feeling the impact of the pandemic. Time is of the essence – many of the relief measures previously approved by Congress, especially unemployment insurance, will come to an end in the coming weeks.
“It will really help us,” said Nikki Luman, 43, from Ohio. Luman worked part-time at his local library, which had to close in the first weeks of the pandemic. The library is still operating at low capacity due to COVID restrictions, which translates to fewer hours for it each week.
“It’s $ 400 a month that we’ve been losing last year,” she said.
Things are not as dire as they were at the beginning of the pandemic for some Americans, in part because of previous measures taken by Washington. In addition, lifestyle changes – less eating out, less travel, no live entertainment – have allowed some Americans to make their financial lives healthier. In the survey, about 4 out of 10 say they are saving more money than normal, and about 3 out of 10 are paying off debt faster than normal.
Tracie Jurgens, 44, works in the truck industry. Jurgens said his income evaporated in the first weeks of the pandemic, as demand for truck drivers plummeted. Jurgen’s boss got a loan through the Small Business Payments Protection Program, which he used to buy new equipment in the summer, when things started to recover.
“I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t bought another truck,” she said.
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Swanson reported from Washington. AP reporter Nathan Ellgren contributed to this Washington report.
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The AP-NORC survey of 1,434 adults was conducted from February 25 to March 1 using a sample taken from the AmeriSpeak Panel based on NORC’s probability, which was designed to be representative of the United States population. The sampling error margin for all respondents is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
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AP-NORC Center: http://www.apnorc.org/.