Feb. 25 (UPI) — People in the United States experienced less financial hardship last year than in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, thanks at least in part to federal assistance, according to the findings of a small survey published Friday by JAMA Health Forum.
Among roughly 800 adults surveyed, 25% reported that they were not confident in their ability to pay for housing, food, healthcare and other necessities in 2021, down from 34% in 2020, the data showed.
Last year, 8% said they were concerned about being able to make their monthly mortgage payments or cover the rent on their home, down from 13% in 2020, the researchers said.
In addition, 12% indicated they may not be able to pay for medical care for themselves or their family in 2021 compared with 19% the year before, according to the researchers.
Four percent expressed concern about being able to afford food in 2021, down from 7% in 2020, the data showed.
However, the percentages “remained high” among respondents who lost their jobs or saw reductions in income in 2021, with 37% concerned about their ability to pay for necessities and 20% saying they may not be able to afford required medical care, the researchers said.
“Material hardship problems, such as problems paying bills or affording food, were alarmingly high early in the COVID pandemic when there were widespread shutdowns and stay-in-place orders,” study co-author Brendan Saloner told UPI in an email.
“We find that the incidence of these hardships decreased in the first year, which is good news, but remained high overall for people who had lost work during the pandemic,” said Saloner, an associate professor of addiction and overdose at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
Although many people in the United States lost work during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, due at least in part to measures designed to contain the spread of the virus, government programs such as stimulus payments softened the blow, research suggests.
In addition, previous studies have found that initiatives such as the Advance Child Tax Credit payments reduced food insufficiency, or the ability to afford adequate food, for families struggling to make ends meet.
For this study, Saloner and his colleagues surveyed 829 adults age 18 years and older in the United States in 2020 and 776 in 2021.
Of these, 208 in 2020 and 178 in 2021 experienced “employment reduction,” or loss of jobs or income, the researchers said.
In addition to concerns over meeting housing, medical and food costs, 7% of respondents said they worried about paying for electricity, heat and water in 2021, down from 9% in 2020, the data showed.
Among respondents, 30% cited using federal stimulus payments to boost savings and investments as a priority in 2021, up from 12% in 2020, the researchers said.
In 2020, 24% of respondents said that using stimulus checks to cover mortgage and rent payments was a priority, while 17% indicated the payments would cover utility bills and 14% would use them for food, according to the researchers.
Last year, these figures dropped to 14%, 12% and 8%, respectively, they said.
“The improving economic situation explains why more people said they would save some of their stimulus check in 2021 versus in 2020,” Saloner said.
However, “when families are stressed because of their inability to meet basic needs it has negative effects on everyone’s physical and mental health, [and] we are seeing many signs already of very high levels of stress, drug overdose and other injuries,” he said.