Ballot: Simply Over Half of the Nation’s Workforce Have Misplaced a Job or Revenue As a consequence of Coronavirus, although Most of Them Imagine They Will Get Their Job and Revenue Again Inside Six Months

With many businesses closing and job losses increasing across the country, just over half of the country's workforce (55%) say they lost a job or lost income due to the health and economic crises sparked by the novel coronavirus pandemic having lowered. The latest results from the KFF Health Tracking Survey.

This includes a quarter (26%) of all people who said they had lost a job on February 1 who said they had lost a job and another 7% who said they took vacation and those who said they had cut their working hours to have (21%). or that they had to cut their wages (13%).

Of those who worked part-time in February, three quarters (76%) reported a loss of work or income. The proportions are also higher than average for those who are paid by the hour or professionally (68%) and for those with low (65%) or moderate (62%) income.

In addition to those who have personally experienced a coronavirus-related job or loss of income, 16% report having a spouse or partner who has lost their job, cut their hours, cut their wages, or took vacation. Overall, 42% of all adults in the United States say they or their spouse or partner are affected in this way.

For many, the loss of jobs and income affects the ability to keep up with their bills.

More than a third (36%) of the affected workers say they are behind schedule with their credit cards and other bills. Around a quarter say they have had problems paying their electricity bills (27%) or with the rent or mortgage (25%), and one in five say they have problems paying for groceries (21%). Smaller stocks say they struggled to afford health insurance (13%) or prescription drugs (5%).

"The economy is squashing workers right now and many are piling up bills and debts," said Drew Altman, president and CEO of KFF. "Your optimism that things will change by fall could be wishful thinking."

Almost half (46%) of those in households who have had a job or income loss since February say they have had at least one of these financial difficulties since then.

Among the general public, three in ten (31%) report at least one of these financial difficulties as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. People most likely to report such an issue include black (57%) and Spanish (42%) adults, those with low annual incomes of $ 40,000 or less (40%), and younger adults ages 18-29 (39%).

Most of the workers affected expect their situation to improve within the next six months

Despite these job setbacks and financial problems, the workers affected are largely optimistic that the situation will return to normal for them this year. Eight in ten people (83%) say they are likely to be reinstated, to return to their previous salary or income, or to get their working hours back within the next six months.

Less than half of those who have lost their jobs or been made redundant say their previous job is still open (39%), while most say it is temporarily closed (56%). Only 2% state that their previous job is permanently closed.

Coronavirus-related worries and stress affect the mental and physical health of most people

In public, more than half (56%) say that worries and stress related to the coronavirus situation leave some mark on their mental and physical wellbeing.

This includes four in ten people who report problems with sleep and one in three people who report overeating or loss of appetite. Smaller proportions say that coronavirus worries or stress cause frequent headaches or stomach aches (18%), difficulty controlling temperament (15%), increased alcohol or drug use (13%) or worsening chronic health conditions (9%) .

The mental health and well-being effects of the coronavirus outbreak also appear to affect a larger proportion of those who have suffered loss of work income.

Two-thirds of those who say they or their spouse lost their job or income (65%) say they have at least one adverse impact on theirs due to past worries or stress related to the coronavirus outbreak mental or physical health had two months.

The survey was designed and analyzed by pollsters from the KFF and conducted from April 15-20, 2020 among a nationwide representative sample of 1,202 adults with free choice. The interviews were conducted in English and Spanish by landline (261) and mobile phone (941). The margin of error in the sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the entire sample. Results based on subgroups may have a higher sampling error rate.