China News Service, October 14 According to US media reports, a poll released on the 12th found that nearly 20% of American households had spent their savings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data map: People on the streets of New York.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liao Pan
According to Bloomberg News, the survey was conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Harvard University's TH Chen School of Public Health. It investigated a sample of 3,616 American adults over the age of 18.
The survey found that the proportion of people with an annual income of less than US$50,000 jumped to 30% of their savings.
Afnell Joseph, vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said that many people use their savings to pay for children or health care.
"When a crisis comes, or when anything becomes abnormal, for example, your child is sick and you are spending your wages," Joseph said.
Almost two-thirds of households with an annual income of less than US$50,000 say they cannot afford rent, medical care and food.
About two-thirds of the interviewees said they had received government assistance in the past few months.
But 44% said these "only played a little role."
"We have always felt that the recovery will be uneven," Joseph said.
"The safety net always has loopholes, and the pandemic tears these loopholes even bigger."