Poll: Pandemic hurting Americans' finances in disparate ways

BURTON, Mich. (AP) — Crystal and Chris Martin put off some payments on their home in this blue-collar town near Flint and are pinching pennies to make ends meet until they return to work. In Windsor, Connecticut, Anne Druce's family canceled home improvement projects out of an abundance of caution but remains financially secure.

As the coronavirus pandemic drags on, a new poll finds it is having different effects on Americans’ economic well-being. For some, the virus has meant lost income or struggles to pay bills on time — particularly among Hispanic, Black and younger Americans. Others, most notably college-educated and older Americans, have transitioned to working from home or have experienced the nation’s economic decline through a dip in the value of their investments.

“It’s just all been kind of frustrating,” said Crystal Martin, who lost her job managing a roller skating rink in March and waited 10 weeks for her first unemployment check. Her husband, an X-ray technician at a Flint hospital, was laid off for about month, then took parental leave after Crystal had a baby in July, to reduce the chances of bringing home the virus.

“We had to go into our savings, and we were crunching numbers to see how long it would last,” said Martin, adding that the couple, who have six children in their blended family, still aren’t sure if their mortgage company will add the deferred house payments to the end of their loan or demand the money all at once later this year.

Overall, roughly a quarter of Americans say they have lost savings and about as many have lost income, according to the latest COVID Response Tracking Study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. About 2 in 10 report losing a job and roughly another 2 in 10 say they have put themselves at risk of exposure to the virus for work.

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