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Social-distancing efforts and stay-at-home orders in response to the Covid-19 pandemic remain widespread. But for younger and lower-income Americans, the financial strain is overtaking health concerns, which could hinder suppression efforts if the trend continues.
The latest Bain/Dynata survey of US consumers, conducted April 6–8, finds that 89% of younger respondents (age 18 to 29) are moderately or highly concerned about the financial harm of the pandemic, while 78% were concerned about the health risks. Similarly, 85% of lower-income respondents (those making below $50,000 a year) were moderately or highly concerned about the financial risks, compared with 77% who had health concerns. The overall population shows a similar level of financial concern, 88%, but a higher rate of health concerns, 84%.
The results point to the challenges of suppression efforts over time. A best-case scenario for economic recovery would envision suppression followed by containment (monitoring, testing, contact tracing, isolation) before a treatment or vaccine is developed. But some regions of the country are on track to reopen sooner than others. As patience among younger voters and lower-income workers wanes, those in the worse-hit regions, such as New York City, may pressure state and local leaders to relax their suppression efforts as well. That, in turn, could increase the risk of ongoing outbreaks in those areas.
Back to Normal in the Age of Covid-19? Not So Fast, US Consumers Say
Most Americans are reluctant to resume their pre-Covid-19 social activities, such as dining at restaurants.
Karen Harris is managing director of Bain & Company's Macro Trends Group and is based in the firm's New York office.
Dynata provides first-party data for the Bain Consumer Health Index and provides a nationally representative sample of US adults (weekly) that constitutes the underlying data for this analysis.
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The global Covid-19 pandemic has extracted a terrible human toll and spurred sweeping changes in the world economy. Across industries, executives have begun reassessing their strategies and repositioning their companies to thrive now and in the world beyond coronavirus.
First published in April 2020