Nearly one in five say coronavirus has caused financial hardship
Overall, most Americans say their family has been financially affected in some way by the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdowns.
Almost one in five Americans describe the impact as a hardship. Larger numbers describe it as inconvenient or difficult but would not go so far as to call it a hardship. Most Americans, however, remain optimistic that jobs will come back.
Americans with lower incomes are more likely to feel the effects. A quarter of Americans earning less than $50,000 a year say the financial impact has been a hardship, compared to just 11% of Americans earning $100,000 a year or more.
Americans who say the impact is a hardship report having a harder time meeting their bills and obligations: nearly half (45%) say they are not making enough to do so.
Most Americans overall think the economic impact of the coronavirus will be felt equally by white communities and communities of color, though 31% think it will impact communities of color more. Blacks are more likely than whites to say it will impact communities of color more.
There are partisan differences as well. Fifty-two percent of Democrats think communities of color will be impacted the most. Most Republicans (86%) and independents (68%) think both communities will be impacted equally.
Most report no change in optimism when they compare themselves now to before the pandemic. However, Americans with lowest incomes do tend to be more pessimistic than those who earn more.
And six in 10 expect jobs in their communities that have been lost during the coronavirus outbreak to come back as the economy improves. Americans of all income levels, in all regions of the country, and in the cities, suburbs, and rural areas alike all have confidence that jobs will return.
This poll was conducted by telephone May 29- June 2, 2020 among a random sample of 1,309 adults nationwide. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cellphones.
The poll employed a random digit dial methodology. For the landline sample, a respondent was randomly selected from all adults in the household. For the cell sample, interviews were conducted with the person who answered the phone.
Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish using live interviewers. The data have been weighted to reflect U.S. Census figures on demographic variables.
The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher and is available by request. The margin of error includes the effects of standard weighting procedures which enlarge sampling error slightly. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
