It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, December 26, 2020
THIRD WORLD USA Millions of Americans lose jobless benefits as $900B relief bill sits on President Trump's desk
Unemployment benefit programs covering millions of Americans are ending as the stimulus deal passed by Congress, which would extend the programs, sits on the president’s desk.
“A complete unforced error,” Andrew Stettner, an unemployment insurance expert and senior fellow at the Century Foundation, told Yahoo Money. “At this point, [jobless Americans are] really at the edge, and they don't have any more further to cut. It's going to throw them into disarray.”
Around 14 million Americans currently rely on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), both of which are expiring on Saturday. While some unemployed Americans could move to another program, around 10 million will be ineligible. Nearly 5 million people are expected to fall into poverty in January as a result of relief provisions expiring.
“That’s the last week of compensable unemployment,” Stettner said. “Most people will probably get their final deposit into their bank account early next week, but they won't be able to claim any more benefits.”
U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump exit from Air Force One at the Palm Beach International Airport on December 23, 2020 in West Palm Beach, Florida. President Trump is scheduled to enjoy a 10-day holiday visit at his Mar-a-Lago resort during the last Christmas of his precedency. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)More
And even if the bill was signed now there would still be a lapse in benefits for the unemployed and reprogramming the benefit payments will take a few weeks.
“If the bill is signed then people are continuously eligible,” Stettner said. “Every day delayed adds to the complexity of getting the benefits back up and running.”
On December 21, Congress overwhelmingly passed a $900 billion stimulus deal that would extend both programs until March 14. But without the president signing the bill into law, the lapse is the earliest cutoff in extended benefits in any recession since 1985. Trump threatened he won’t sign it unless the current $600 stimulus check is increased to $2,000 creating uncertainty over the bill’s future.
The president didn’t say whether he’ll veto the bill but hasn’t signed it as of Saturday. In a tweet on Friday evening, Trump doubled down on his demand for bigger stimulus checks in any stimulus legislation.
A two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress would be required to override a presidential veto. Complicating matters is that the bill is attached to another piece of legislation to keep the government funded. If Trump doesn’t sign the conjoined pair, the government faces a shutdown on Dec. 28.
Both the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs are set to expire on December 26 unless Congress reaches a stimulus deal
‘It's really a disaster’
As of Saturday, jobless Americans are facing their third benefit cliff in the pandemic. The extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits under the CARES Act expired in July and the extra $300 under the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program expired in September.
“These people are going to fall into poverty, they are going to lose their homes, people are going to sell their cars,” Stettner said. “It's really a disaster.”
It’s not just unemployment programs expiring: The federal eviction moratorium, paid sick leave provisions, aid to state and local governments, and other relief expires at the end of December.
Community members wait in line to receive holiday-themed takeout meals and backpacks with toiletries from the Midnight Mission in Skid Row on Christmas day amid the COVID-19 pandemic on December 25, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Around 3 million workers on PEUC may be able to move to Extended Benefits (EB) a federal program that provides additional 13 weeks but that program is also expiring in many states as their unemployment rates decrease. Only 18 states are projected to have the program in place by the end of December.
For jobless Americans, the $900 billion stimulus deal would have meant an extra $300 a week added to their benefits as well as PEUC and PUA programs extended so that people could receive benefits for another 11 weeks. Along with that, some overpayments would be waived, and some workers may even get an extra $100 on top of the $300 a week. ‘The pandemic has really exacerbated it’
As a result of the expiring relief, the number of people in poverty would increase by 4.8 million in January, according to an analysis by Columbia’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy.
“It's really keeping both the workers and their whole families, afloat,” Megan Curran, a postdoctoral research scientist, and co-author of the report told Yahoo Money. “But it also means that the workers and their whole families are at risk of losing out.”
The potential January jump in poverty would come after millions have already fallen into poverty since the summer. A total of 7.8 million Americans have entered poverty since June, according to a University of Chicago and Notre Dame study found. A similar study by Columbia’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy found that 5.5 million have fallen into poverty from May to October.
Black Americans are falling into poverty in the greatest numbers during the pandemic and will be disproportionally affected by the current benefit cliff with 1.4 million expected to enter poverty in January.
“This disparity was a problem before the pandemic but the pandemic has really exacerbated it,” Curran said. “Job loss has hit them disproportionately and poverty, therefore, has also hit them disproportionately.”
President Trump's demand for $2,000 checks for most Americans was rejected by House Republicans as his disorganized actions have thrown the COVID-19 relief and government funding bill into chaos.
Trump, Lindsey Graham play golf, discuss stimulus checks on Christmas
Trump complained about the ‘pork’ contained in the latest Covid stimulus bill
Graeme Massie
Trump plays Christmas Day round of golf with Lindsay Graham while complaining about stimulus bill's 'pork'
(SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Donald Trumpgolfed on Christmas Day with Lindsey Graham as he complained about the ‘pork’ contained in the latest Covid stimulus bill.
The outgoing president went to his golf club in West Palm Beach with the South Carolina senator as he continued to push back on the $900bn bill he has so far refused to sign.
The actual bill has now been flown to Palm Beach, where he staying at Mar-a-Lago, so it is available to sign.
Lawmakers reportedly have no idea if Mr Trump will sign the bill, veto it, or do nothing, which would see the federal government shut down at midnight on Monday, reports Politico.
But Republicans told Axios that they expect Mr Trump to sign the bill “in the nick of time.”
Mr Trump caused chaos earlier this week when he decided he would not sign the bill, which would give every American $600.
Despite his administration helping broker the deal, Mr Trump released a video calling for checks of $2,000 to be issued.
That idea was applauded by Democrats but quickly rejected by House Republicans on Thursday.
Around 14 million Americans are also set to lose their unemployment benefits on Saturday.
The president vowed he would “work tirelessly” over his Christmas break but he was also seen golfing on Christmas Eve.
It is the 31st golf vacation of Mr Trump’s presidency and takes the taxpayer cost of nearly 300 days of golfing to $151.5 million, according to HuffPost.
What is the current poverty rate in the United States?Current estimates on poverty in the U.S.
The official poverty rate is 10.5 percent, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 estimates. That year, an estimated 34.0 million Americans lived in poverty according to the official measure, 4.2 million fewer people than in 2018. According to supplemental poverty measure, the poverty rate was 11.7 percent.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the response rate for the CPS basic household survey was 73% in March 2020, about 10 percentage points lower than in preceding months and the same period in 2019, which were regularly above 80%.
The official poverty measure was developed in the 1960s in conjunction with President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. Each September the U.S. Census Bureau releases an update of the national poverty rate for the prior year.
The official measure today is based on data from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement. The survey is sent to U.S. households, so the poverty estimates do not include those who are homeless. The sample also excludes military personnel who do not live with at least one civilian adult as well as incarcerated adults.
While poverty rates according to the official and supplemental measures fluctuate from year to year, so do incomes relative to the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). According to the Census Bureau, 17.3 million people reported deep poverty in 2018, which means a household income below 50 percent of the 2018 poverty threshold. These individuals represented an estimated 5.3 percent of all Americans and 45.4 percent of those in poverty.
How high has the poverty rate in the U.S. been historically?
Historically, the official poverty rate in the United States had ranged from a high of 22.4 percent when it was first estimated for 1959 to a low of 11.1 percent in 1973. Since its initial rapid decline after 1964 with the launch of major War on Poverty programs, the poverty rate has fluctuated between around 11 and 15 percent.
Individuals also transition into and out of poverty over time, though many of those who are poor at any given time will spend multiple spells in poverty. Research shows that transitions into or out of poverty often happens after major life events such as marriage, divorce, or sudden changes in income. These transitions also can be associated with larger shifts in unemployment or wages.
What is the difference between the official and supplemental poverty measures?
The official poverty measure triples the inflation-adjusted cost of a minimum food diet and creates thresholds based on family size, composition and the age of the householder. Anyone living in a household with an income below their relative poverty threshold is considered to be in poverty.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services develops their Federal Poverty Guideline income thresholds based on the official poverty measure estimates. These income thresholds are used to determine eligibility for federal safety net programs, such as Medicaid or WIC.
Since the 1960s, new poverty measures, including the U.S. Census Bureau’s supplemental measure, provide a more complex understanding of poverty in the United States. The supplemental measure includes basic costs of living that can vary across states. It also includes transfers from safety net programs and in-kind benefits.
The number of adults on welfare has dropped dramatically since its reform in 1996. As of 2011, a little over 1 million adults remained on the welfare rolls in a typical month, down from about 4.6 million at the program’s peak in the early 1990s. As these numbers plummeted, the number of single mothers joining the workforce or returning to it grew at rates that were largely unexpected.
For these reasons, welfare reform has been touted as a success.
At the same time, in the years since 1996, a new group of American poor has emerged: families with children who are living on virtually no income—$2 or less per person per day in a given month. These are America’s “extreme poor.” The U.S. official poverty line for a family of three would equate to roughly $17 per person per day. What scholars call “deep poverty”—income at less than half the poverty line—is about $8.50 per person per day, over four times higher than our cutoff. This new group of American poor, the extreme poor, are likely experiencing a level of destitution not captured in prior poverty measures, one thatfew of us knew even existed in such a rich country.
The purpose of this article is to expose the rise of extreme poverty and to examine how the safety net is—or is not—addressing it. We cannot fully address why extreme poverty is on the rise, but it may well be related to the landmark 1996 welfare reform. After 1996, it became far more difficult to get any cash assistance from the government if you didn’t have a job, even if you were raising young children and had no other sources of income.
THIRD WORLD USA
Trump refuses to budge over aid bill, imperiling jobless benefits for millions
Washington residents protest to cancel rent during coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic
Steve Holland and Raphael Satter Fri, December 25, 2020, 10:07 PM MST
PALM BEACH, Fla/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Millions of Americans are about to see their jobless benefits expire on Saturday as President Donald Trump has so far refused to sign into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package, insisting that it did not do enough to help everyday people.
Trump stunned Republicans and Democrats alike when he said this week he was unhappy with the massive bill, which provides $892 billion in badly needed coronavirus relief, including extending emergency unemployment benefits that expire at the close of Dec. 26, and $1.4 trillion for normal government spending.
Without Trump's signature, about 14 million people could lose those extra benefits, according to Labor Department data. A partial government shutdown will begin on Tuesday, putting millions of government workers' incomes at risk, unless Congress can agree a stop-gap government funding bill before then.
After months of wrangling, Republicans and Democrats agreed to the package last weekend, with the support of the White House. Trump, who hands over power to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20, did not object to the terms of the deal before Congress voted it through on Monday night.
But since then he has complained that the bill gives too much money to special interests, cultural projects and foreign aid, while the provision of $600 stimulus checks to millions of struggling Americans was too small. He has demanded that be raised to $2,000.
"I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill," the president tweeted on Saturday.
His refusal to sign prompted a sharp rebuke from Biden, who called on the outgoing Republican president to act immediately.
"This abdication of responsibility has devastating consequences. ... This bill is critical. It needs to be signed into law now," Biden, who is spending the holiday in his home state of Delaware, said in a statement. The president-elect was scheduled to meet with his transition advisers on Sunday.
Americans are living through an unprecedented holiday season amid a pandemic that has killed nearly 330,000 people in the United States, with a daily death toll now repeatedly well over 3,000 people, the highest since the pandemic began.
Many economists agree the bill's aid is too low but say the immediate support is still urgently needed.
'EXTRAORDINARILY HARD'
A source familiar with the situation said Trump's objection to the bill caught many White House officials by surprise. His criticism of the bill in tweets dashed hopes that he would sign the bill over the weekend.
Trump spent much of Thursday and Christmas Day golfing at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The bill has been sent to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence, where Trump spent Saturday with members of his family, including senior advisers Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, and daughter Ivanka Trump.
According to his daily schedule, Trump was involved in "many meetings and calls," although the White House did not provide details. He had no events scheduled for Sunday
The president also found time to reiterate in several tweets his baseless claims of election fraud and accuse his fellow Republicans of abandoning him in his bid to overturn the election result, already shot down multiple times by U.S. courts. He has yet to acknowledge Biden's Nov. 3 victory.
"Time for Republican Senators to step up and fight for the Presidency," he tweeted on Saturday evening.
Trump appeared to be in an isolated position on the aid bill as well, with few Republican lawmakers voicing support for his position. The White House had no updates as to whether Trump would sign the bill by Monday, an official said.
Representative French Hill of Arkansas, a Republican who sits on the House Financial Services Committee, told Fox on Saturday he hoped Trump would sign the bill at once because it would provide immediate relief to Americans.
"I wish he had made that pitch for $2,000 as vociferously over the last three weeks as after the bill was passed. It might have given us more leverage to get a slightly higher payment," Hill said. At this point, he added, "It's going to be extraordinarily hard to get that payment through the Senate and the House."
The U.S. Congress, which normally is adjourned the last week of December, is preparing to return to work. The Democratic-controlled House plans to vote on legislation providing one-time $2,000 checks to individuals.
Trump last week vetoed a $740 billion bill authorizing the nation's defense programs. On Monday, the House is scheduled to vote on overriding Trump's veto. If the House vote succeeds, the Senate could hold its vote as early as Tuesday. Both chambers passed the defense spending bill with margins well over the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. (Reporting by Steve Holland in Palm Beach, Florida, and Raphael Satter in Washington; Additional reporting by Julia Harte in Washington and Simon Lewis in Wilmington, Delaware; Writing by Michelle Price and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Mary Milliken )
While in Florida Golfing, Trump Allows Jobless Benefits to Expire for Millions
Peter Wade Sat, December 26, 2020,
While President Donald Trump spends the holidays at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, millions of Americans will lose their jobless benefits.
Trump’s refusal to sign the $2.3 trillion Covid-19 relief and government funding bill, which his own administration negotiated, means approximately 14 million Americans will see their unemployment benefits expire on Saturday.
With at least a partial government shutdown looming if not signed by Tuesday, the bill has been sent to Florida where it awaits the president’s signature or veto.
Trump’s attempt to upend the bipartisan compromise by leadership in the House and Senate, insisting on $2,000 stimulus checks instead of the current $600 in the bill, is as fraudulent as his rigged election claims. It’s important to remember that although Trump is now saying, “Give our people the money!” his administration was involved in the negotiations, and it’s his party that is insisting on keeping payments to Americans low.
According to the New York Times, since November an additional 398,000 people filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, one of two programs that will expire on Saturday night. And even if Trump signed the bill today, it could still take four to six weeks for people to receive their new benefits, and they will need to submit proof that they are eligible.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to hold a unanimous consent vote Monday on legislation for stimulus checks that would meet Trump’s supposed desire for $2,000 direct payments, although that is unlikely to pass or get past the Senate. But the vote will put Republicans in Congress on the spot since they’ve balked at going above $600, following their rediscovered concerns about the deficit.
Trump will cost jobless workers a week of $300 federal unemployment benefits if he doesn't sign the relief bill by the end of Saturday
Joseph Zeballos-Roig Sat, December 26, 2020
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
The president could cost jobless workers a week of $300 federal unemployment benefits if the relief legislation is not signed by midnight Saturday.
State agencies can only distribute benefits for weeks the legislation is enacted, experts say.
Nearly 14 millions Americans are threatened with the loss of all their unemployment aid this weekend.
President Donald Trump has suggested he may reject the $900 billion coronavirus relief package that Congress approved earlier this week unless lawmakers include $2,000 stimulus payments. He still hasn't signed it into law and has given few indications of which direction he'll swing.
The continued delay endangers a broad range of federal assistance programs in the legislation as well. It could prove costly for millions of Americans receiving unemployment benefits since they were supposed to restart December 26.
If Trump doesn't sign the federal rescue package by the end of Saturday, it would effectively cut a week of $300 federal unemployment benefits for jobless people, according to Michele Evermore, a policy expert at the National Employment Law Project.
However, she cautioned it's hard to project without federal guidance how the holdup would affect other unemployment programs.
"I'm not entirely sure how this will be interpreted - at the very least, we lose a week of the $300," Evermore told Insider. "No matter what, if he doesn't sign, next week it goes down to 10 weeks of an extra $300."
Experts like Evermore say a two-to-three week gap in unemployment benefits is inevitable since states need time to recalibrate their computer systems to send the payments.
States can't provide benefits for weeks before the relief legislation is actually approved. Depending when it's signed, that could put labor agencies on track to restart the payouts during the first week of January. The $300 federal supplement would still end on March 14, setting up only a 10-week extension instead of 11.
Trump's move also threatens to financially devastate millions of Americans heading into next year. Saturday is the last day that two federal unemployment programs distribute their payments. They are the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for gig workers and freelancers and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation for people who exhausted state benefits.
That pair of programs set up under the CARES Act in March cover 14 million people and expire this month. The president's calendar has no public events listed for the weekend. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The president maintained his position in a tweet on Saturday morning, saying he wanted to increase stimulus payments and remove unrelated provisions from the large tax-and-spending package.
"I simply want to get out great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill," Trump tweeted. "Also, stop the billions of dollars in 'pork'."
Democrats fiercely criticized Trump on Saturday. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said the president was "throwing a tantrum" and urged him to sign the legislation.
"If Donald Trump doesn't sign the COVID relief bill today, many workers won't receive their income for the week of December 27- not even retroactively," he said in a statement. "The ability of millions of Americans to keep a roof over their heads and buy groceries hangs in the balance."
On Tuesday evening, Trump threatened in a video posted on Twitter to derail the $900 billion coronavirus relief package alongside the government spending bill it was paired with to accelerate their passage. He blasted provisions in the funding legislation such as money for the Kennedy Center, though his budget request had allocated funds for it.
The development stunned lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who had expected the president to sign the legislation given the White House's public statements on it. Trump had largely delegated relief negotiations to Congressional leaders for months.
The coronavirus relief legislation contained $600 direct payments, $300 weekly federal unemployment benefits, funding for food stamps and rental assistance, and small business aid among other measures. It passed Congress with a strong bipartisan majority on Monday evening, which could potentially pave the way for a veto override.
In a bit of political jockeying, House Democrats on Thursday swiftly attempted to advance a measure to approve $2,000 stimulus checks. But House Republicans immediately blocked it. Speaker Nancy Pelosi assailed the GOP move and vowed to bring up the legislation for another vote on Monday.
Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, a top Trump ally in Congress, suggested the president was holding firm on his position on Saturday afternoon.
"After spending some time with President @realDonaldTrump today, I am convinced he is more determined than ever to increase stimulus payments to $2000 per person and challenge Section 230 big tech liability protection," Graham tweeted.
Trump’s refusal to sign coronavirus relief bill endangers jobless aid for 14 million Americans
Alex Woodward Sat, December 26, 2020
(Getty Images)
Joe Biden has demanded Donald Trump immediately sign a broad government funding bill as unemployment benefits lapse for millions of out-of-work Americans, calling the president’s refusal an “abdication of responsibility” with “devastating consequences.”
Extended unemployment relief that has served as a critical lifeline for millions of Americans during the public health crisis expired on Saturday, following the president’s last-minute rejection of a spending package that includes $900bn in coronavirus aid.
“It is the day after Christmas, and millions of families don’t know if they’ll be able to make ends meet because of president Donald Trump’s refusal to sign an economic relief bill approved by Congress with an overwhelming and bipartisan majority,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
If the president refuses to sign the bill or veto it all together, he threatens a broad range of Covid-19-related relief measures for roughly 14 million people, including weekly unemployment payments and a federal moratorium on evictions that is set to expire on New Year’s Eve.
After several weeks of negotiations before an eleventh-hour deadline on Monday, Congress agreed to a $900bn relief package that includes a $600 one-time direct payment to most Americans, along with an extension of $300 in federal weekly unemployment aid, in addition to state-level benefits, for 11 weeks.
But on Wednesday, before he left the White House to spend Christmas at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the president released a video message calling the legislation a “disgrace” and demanded Congress “immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items” from the bill.
On Saturday, he announced: “I simply want to get our great people $2,000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill.”
The president has conflated the omnibus spending bill, which includes budget items the White House sought months ago and that his Republican allies have approved, with the relief package, arguing that it does not contain enough one-time direct payments to most Americans and includes too much in foreign aid.
Those budget items were among those negotiated between Congress and the White House. On Monday, 128 of 195 House Republicans voted to support the budget.
If Mr Trump does sign the bill on Saturday, there is still likely to be a temporary lapse in benefits, as states scramble to adjust to the new timeline, potentially cutting off aid for out-of-work Americans for at least a week, effectively cutting funding down from 11 weeks to just 10, according to Michele Evermore with the National Employment Law Project.
The bill signs off on $600 cheques for most Americans, but Mr Trump has pushed for $2,000 checks – Democrats have pushed for larger checks for months, following a one-time payment in April of $1,200, but were repeatedly rejected by congressional Republicans.
Mr Biden has repeatedly referred to the funding measure as a “down payment” ahead of his inauguration on 20 January, after which he has pledged more support to Americans during the emergency.
During debate over the latest relief package, Democrats sought another round of similarly sized payments, but those efforts were blocked by lawmakers in the GOP-controlled Senate, arguing that higher payments would negatively impact the federal deficit, despite their overwhelming support for corporate tax deductions in the bill, along with the president’s $1.75 trillion tax cuts and the recent passage of a $741bn defence budget.
Democrats have sought to leverage the president’s demands for $2,000 payments, but Republicans rebuffed the president’s demands on Christmas Eve.
“Why would politicians not want to give people $2,000, rather than only $600?" the president said on Twitter on Christmas, which he spent playing on golf. “Give our people the money!”
More than 20 million Americans are relying on some form of unemployment aid.
Roughly 869,000 people filed new claims for state jobless benefits within the last week ending on 19 December, which has fallen from the previous week but is significantly higher than jobless claims from a month earlier, before a new spike in Covid-19 infections and deaths across the US.
Nearly 400,000 people filed for aid through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance programme, one of two federal programmes that will expire without the president’s signature.
A partial government shutdown will also begin on Tuesday unless Congress can agree to a temporary stop-gap measure to fund the government until it can reach an agreement on the larger funding bill.
LOTS OF GRAPHS
COVID-19 Crisis Has Changed How Americans Live
Andy Bergmann Sat, December 26, 2020
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.
Consumer Reports has been tracking how the coronavirus pandemic has changed Americans’ daily lives, since early March. The CR Survey has tapped a nationally representative sample of Americans on a monthly basis asking about the virus’ impact on jobs, finances, social lives, shopping, and more.
Americans Are Concerned
Overall concern about the spread of the coronavirus in respondents’ local areas over the following month remained consistently high throughout the second half of 2020. Concern peaked in July, dropped in August, then built back up over the following months. Emotional and Financial Effects
Amid the heartbreaking death toll from COVID-19 and enduring physical health problems for many survivors, the pandemic has also exacted a heavy toll on the emotional and financial well-being of many Americans.
Behaviors Have Changed
A majority of Americans say they would feel at least somewhat safe going in person to the doctor or dentist, but far fewer Americans would feel similarly safe traveling by plane or going to an indoor gym.
This multimode survey was fielded by NORC at the University of Chicago using a nationally representative sample of 2,851 U.S. adults. The most recent survey was conducted Nov. 5 to Nov. 16, 2020, in English and in Spanish. The survey was directed by Karen Jaffe, associate director of survey research at Consumer Reports, and Tess Yanisch, survey research associate at Consumer Reports. (Download a PDF of the full survey results.)
October 2020 Survey
To monitor the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the habits and attitudes of Americans, Consumer Reports’ American Experiences Survey team again interviewed a nationally representative sample of Americans. This time, 2,670 U.S. adults were polled between Oct. 8 and Oct. 26. Concern Remains High
As COVID-19 cases began to increase again across the country, the majority of Americans continued to express concern about the spread of the virus in their local areas.
Most Americans Would Wait to Be Vaccinated
Only 12 percent of Americans reported that they would feel comfortable getting a COVID-19 vaccination immediately after one is released. The majority said they would wait at least three months, or would not get it at all, when asked about how soon they would feel comfortable getting it after release.
Fewer Americans Very Likely to Get a Vaccine
In October, fewer than 1 in 3 people indicated that they were “very likely” to get a vaccine. (Note that the survey was taken prior to the November elections and recent release of Pfizer trial data.)
Black Americans Are Much Less Confident in Vaccine Safety
Black respondents were much less likely to have confidence in the safety of a COVID-19 vaccine if one became available today than Hispanic and white respondents.
This multimode survey was fielded by NORC at the University of Chicago using a nationally representative sample of 2,670 U.S. adults. The survey was conducted Oct. 8 to Oct. 26, 2020, in English and in Spanish. The survey was directed by Karen Jaffe, associate director of survey research at Consumer Reports, and Jane Manweiler, senior research associate at CR.
September 2020 Survey
To monitor the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the habits and attitudes of Americans, Consumer Reports’ American Experiences Survey team again interviewed a nationally representative sample of Americans, this time 2,303 U.S. adults polled from Sept. 11 through Sept. 21. CR found that Americans are taking even more precautionary measures because of the pandemic.
Voting by Mail
With the pandemic still affecting communities across the country, 35 percent of Americans indicated that they would vote by mail in the November elections. If they follow through with their plans, that will be considerably higher than the 20.9 percent of votes cast via mail in the 2016 presidential election.
More People Are Wearing Masks
The number of people who reported always wearing a mask in indoor public spaces ticked up again in September.
More Are Likely to Support Businesses That Follow Safety Guidelines
An increased number of Americans now say they’re more likely to support businesses that follow COVID-19 safety guidelines, such as wearing a mask. Those that indicated support increased from 59 percent in June to 68 percent in September.
This multimode survey was fielded by NORC at the University of Chicago using a nationally representative sample. The survey was conducted Sept. 11 to Sept. 21, 2020, in English and Spanish. It was directed by Karen Jaffe, associate director of survey research at Consumer Reports, and Tess Yanisch, survey research associate at CR.
August 2020 Survey
To monitor the impact COVID-19 is having on the habits and attitudes of Americans, Consumer Reports’ American Experiences Survey team again interviewed a nationally representative sample of Americans, this time of 2,236 adults from Aug. 7 through Aug. 19. CR found that Americans were less concerned about the spread of COVID-19 in August than they were in July but are being cautious in their spending habits and willingness to fly. Overall Concern About the Spread of COVID-19 Dropped in August
After peaking in July, Americans’ overall concern about the spread of COVID-19 in their local areas fell somewhat in August.
Americans Are Spending Less
Over half of Americans are being more cautious about spending than they were before the coronavirus pandemic began. While spending patterns are generally consistent among age groups, high earners are the least likely to report being much more cautious about spending.
Not Ready to Fly
Half of Americans would fly only for an important event or a reason such as a family emergency. The majority of them say that strict rules around social distancing and wearing masks would need to be in place for them to feel comfortable flying. Nineteen percent would not feel comfortable flying unless they had a COVID-19 vaccine.
This multimode survey was fielded by NORC at the University of Chicago using a nationally representative sample. The survey was conducted Aug. 7 to Aug. 19, 2020, in English and in Spanish. The survey was directed by Karen Jaffe, associate director of survey research at Consumer Reports, and Tess Yanisch, survey research associate at CR.
July 2020 Survey
Following a surge in COVID-19 cases after broad reopenings around the country, Consumer Reports’ American Experiences Survey team again interviewed a nationally representative sample of adults, with 2,031 polled between July 9 and July 20. CR found that Americans are more concerned with the spread of the virus than they were in previous surveys and that they’ve been scaling up precautions, with more people reporting wearing masks in public. The survey also found more pronounced growth in concern among Black and Hispanic Americans. Americans Are More Worried
As COVID-19 caseloads have spiked in many parts of the country, more Americans have become concerned about the spread of the virus in their areas.
More Black, Hispanic Americans ‘Very Concerned’
Although there was a strong increase among all respondents who reported being “very concerned” about the spread of COVID-19 (41 percent in June to 53 percent in July), the increase among Black and Hispanic respondents who reported being “very concerned” grew even more dramatically compared with the previous month.
Women Are More Concerned Than Men
Women have consistently reported greater concern than men over the spread of COVID-19. In June, the gap between women and men who said they were “very concerned” widened by 16 percentage points. But concern among men rose dramatically in July, narrowing the gap to 9 percentage points.
Mask Usage Has Increased
Amid increased concern over the spread of COVID-19, a higher percentage of Americans surveyed reported always wearing a mask when they’re in indoor public spaces.
Mask Usage Varies Based on Location
Mask usage across the U.S. hasn’t been consistent, the survey shows. More residents in the Northeast and the West report always wearing a mask when they’re in indoor public spaces, while those living in the South and the Midwest were less likely to do so.
A Split on In-School Education
With the start of the traditional school year approaching when the survey was conducted, a majority of Americans with school-age children at home reported they were not confident that their schools could prevent the spread of COVID-19 if they reopen for in-person classes.
Black and Hispanic Americans Concerned About School Reopenings
When compared with the general population, a higher percentage of Black and Hispanic Americans reported that they would prefer that schools remain closed, with students attending all classes online.
This multimode survey was fielded by NORC at the University of Chicago using a nationally representative sample. The survey was conducted July 9 to July 20, 2020, in English and Spanish. The survey was directed by Karen Jaffe, Consumer Reports’ associate director of survey research, and Jane Manweiler, survey research associate at CR.
June 2020 Survey
As many states across the U.S. were lifting lockdowns in June and everything from bars to beaches was reopening, Consumer Reports’ American Experiences Survey team once again interviewed a nationally representative sample of adults. This time, 1,014 people were polled between June 4 and June 16. CR discovered that a majority of Americans were still worried about the spread of COVID-19 near them. Those fears have been borne out by the surge of virus infections in several states.
Virus Transmission Concerns Remain High
While states across the U.S. allowed restaurants, bars, stores, and beaches to reopen, Americans reported that they were just as worried as they were a month earlier about the spread of the virus.
Americans Say They’re Distancing and Wearing Masks
Of those Americans who’ve ventured out in recent days, most say they are following safety precautions recommended by health experts, such as donning masks in indoor public spaces and keeping 6 feet away from others wherever they go.
Black and Hispanic Americans Are More Likely to Wear Masks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that people of color are much more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than white Americans. So it’s notable that they are more likely than white Americans to report always using masks, and Black Americans are most likely to report always socially distancing from others in public.
Older Americans Are Feeling More Worried
Statistics show that COVID-19 is more likely to cause serious illness and death in older adults, so perhaps it’s no surprise that more than half of Americans 60-plus are very concerned about the virus’ spread near them.
But Some Younger Americans Are Eager for Reopenings
As states were lifting restrictions put into place to minimize transmission of COVID-19, we asked Americans what changes they might start making in their daily lives. While the majority planned to do things such as go shopping or to the gym the same amount or less than they did pre-COVID-19, a quarter of Americans ages 18 to 29 said they would be heading to shops and gyms more often than before the pandemic.
Many Americans Support Businesses That Take COVID-19 Seriously
The majority of Americans are more likely to support businesses that require both their employees and customers to wear masks and keep 6 feet away from each other, as recommended by health experts. Most also believe that stores should, by law, be able to deny service to customers who fail to follow their safety guidelines.
This multimode survey was fielded by NORC at the University of Chicago using a nationally representative sample. The survey was conducted June 4 to 16, 2020. The survey was directed by Karen Jaffe, Consumer Reports’ associate director of survey research, and Jane Manweiler, survey research associate at CR.
May 2020 Survey
As COVID-19 continued its deadly spread across the U.S. in May, Consumer Reports’ survey team once again interviewed a nationally representative sample of adults (this time, 2,085 people were polled from May 8 to 18) seeking to learn whether Americans felt the coronavirus pandemic would change their lives in the future—how they work, play, shop, travel, pray, and much more. Important note: This new survey was taken prior to the killing of George Floyd and the protests against systemic racism that followed, revealing that even in mid-May many Americans believed life in the U.S. was in a serious upheaval. Concerns for Virus Transmission Stay High
As states began lifting restrictions that had been put in place to minimize transmission of COVID-19—such as closing restaurants and beaches—most Americans still had strong concerns about the spread of the virus.
More Black and Hispanic Americans Are Highly Concerned
Our April survey revealed that Black and Hispanic respondents were hit harder by the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. When we asked in May about the further spread of the virus, both groups were more likely to be highly concerned than white Americans about the virus’ spread.
Life in the U.S. Will Never Be the Same
Even as restrictions were being lifted in some parts of the U.S. in mid-May, most Americans said they would be making at least some permanent changes to their daily lives because of COVID-19. Only 16 percent believe they will go back to living life as they did before the virus.
More Black Respondents Plan Life-Altering Changes
Still more evidence that COVID-19 has had a deeper impact on Black Americans: Even before the killing of George Floyd, Black Americans responded that the impact of the virus had permanently changed the way they would live their lives.
What Americans Want to Do ASAP
As quarantines and closures begin to lift across the U.S., many Americans say that within a month of reopening, they’ll get their hair and/or nails done and head to beaches, restaurants, houses of worship, and other meeting places.
Trains, Gyms, Rock Concerts? Maybe Not.
Some of our respondents declared they would never again ride on subways or buses, work out in gyms, or even go to movie theaters in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Many Would Get a Vaccine . . . but Some Wouldn't
In spite of the deadliness of COVID-19, one-third of Americans tell us they’re not likely to get a coronavirus vaccine if one becomes available.
Why Some Americans Wouldn't Get Vaccinated
Safety concerns about the vaccine are the leading reason that one-third of Americans are not likely to get a COVID-19 vaccine when offered. Some also don’t believe that the coronavirus is a serious health threat.
This multimode survey was fielded by NORC at the University of Chicago using a nationally representative sample. The survey was conducted May 8 to 18, 2020. The survey was directed by Karen Jaffe, Consumer Reports’ associate director of survey research, and Debra Kalensky, senior research associate at CR.
April 2020 Survey
When COVID-19 was spreading across the U.S. in early March, Consumer Reports’ survey team began to track how the coronavirus pandemic was changing Americans’ lives. We interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,079 adults in the first two weeks of March, and then 2,164 adults in the first two weeks of April (captured here), seeking insight about the virus’ impact on our jobs, finances, social lives, shopping, and much more. We will continue to update this page over the next few months with our latest findings. Virus Transmission Concerns Jumped
In just one month, the percentage of Americans who reported feeling highly concerned about the widespread transmission of the coronavirus has increased dramatically.
Note: March survey asked participants their level of concern about the possibility of widespread transmission; April survey asked level of concern about widespread transmission. An Economic and Emotional Toll
Americans revealed in our April survey that the coronavirus pandemic has had a dramatic effect on their finances and on their sense of well-being.
Not Everyone Is Affected Equally
Those who are Hispanic, Black, or younger than 45 are more likely to have been economically hit hard by COVID-19, with more losing income and falling behind on mortgages or rent, according to our April survey.
Lives Put on Hold
An overwhelming number of those surveyed in April who had important plans affecting their future health or finances reported that they had to delay or cancel those plans because of COVID-19.
Americans who, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, were considering doing each of the above in the next year. Trying to Stay Safe From COVID-19
Over the course of a few weeks, Americans quickly ramped up the precautions and preparations they were taking to protect themselves in the face of the widening coronavirus pandemic.
Some Things Americans Are Buying Now
In our April survey, we asked people about a few items and services they might have bought in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the percentages of people who purchased or upgraded one of these products or services in recent weeks.
. . . And Things They Can't Find Anywhere
Shortages are a way of life now. But some products have practically disappeared from store shelves. Here are the percentages of Americans who couldn’t track down the following items.
