A total of 52 percent of lower-income adults in the United States have reported that they or someone in their household has lost a job or has experienced cuts in wage payments due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a new poll by the Pew Research Center showed on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2020) A total of 52 percent of lower-income adults in the United States have reported that they or someone in their household has lost a job or has experienced cuts in wage payments due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a new poll by the Pew Research Center showed on Wednesday.
"As the economic toll from the coronavirus outbreak continues to mount, a new Pew Research Center survey finds the impact is falling more heavily on lower-income adults a group that was feeling significant financial pressure well before the current crisis. Overall, 43% of U.S. adults now say that they or someone in their household has lost a job or taken a cut in pay due to the outbreak, up from 33% in the latter half of March. Among lower-income adults, an even higher share (52%) say they or someone in their household has experienced this type of job upheaval," a press release explaining the survey said.
Moreover, lower-income US adults are less prepared to overcome the financial crisis amid COVID-19, as only 23 percent of them said that they had emergency funds that would cover their expenses for three months in case of a job loss, sickness or an economic downturn. As for middle-income US citizens, this figure stands at 48 percent, and a total of 75 percent for upper-income Americans.
Overall, the public's assessment of the current economic situation in the United States has significantly deteriorated since the beginning of the year, according to the survey.
"These personal experiences bring into sharp relief the public's overall assessment of the U.S. economy. Only 23% of adults now rate national economic conditions as excellent or good, down dramatically from 57% at the beginning of 2020," the press release said.
The United States is the world leader in terms of the number of COVID-19 patients with more than 824,000 confirmed cases. The total number of deaths has topped 45,000 since the beginnong of the outbreak in the country.
