Economic Effects Of COVID-19 By Race Or Ethnicity

Chart: Economic Effects Of COVID-19 By Race Or Ethnicity

A new Pew Research Center survey finds that, overall, one-in-four adults have had trouble paying their bills since the coronavirus outbreak started, a third have dipped into savings or retirement accounts to make ends meet, and about one-in-six have borrowed money from friends or family or gotten food from a food bank.

As was the case earlier this year, these types of experiences continue to be more common among adults with lower incomes, those without a college degree and Black and Hispanic Americans.

Among lower-income adults, 46% say they have had trouble paying their bills since the pandemic started and roughly one third (32%) say it’s been hard for them to make rent or mortgage payments.

About one-in-five or fewer middle-income adults have faced these challenges, and the shares are substantially smaller for those in the upper-income tier. 

To be sure, some of these financial pain points may have existed even before the pandemic – particularly for lower-income adults.

Job loss has also been more acute among certain demographic groups. Overall, 25% of U.S. adults say they or someone in their household was laid off or lost their job because of the coronavirus outbreak, with 15% saying this happened to them personally.

Young adults (ages 18 to 29) and lower-income adults are among the most likely to say this has occurred in their household. Read the rest at Pew Research.

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