KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: The Pandemic’s Toll on Workers and Family Finances During the Omicron Surge – Kaiser Family Foundation

Key Findings

This months KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor explored how the recent omicron surge impacted the economic stability of U.S. families and workers. Four in ten workers (42%) say they had to miss work at least once in the past three months because of a COVID-19 related concern or sickness. This includes one in four workers (26%) who say they had to miss work to quarantine following a COVID-19 exposure, one in five who missed work because they tested positive for COVID-19, and one in eight (13%) who missed work because their place of employment was closed or reduced hours due to COVID-19 concerns. Additionally, three in ten parents (28%) say they had to miss work in the past three months because they had to stay home with a child who had to quarantine, or their childs school went virtual due to COVID-19 concerns.

Lower-income workers are more likely than those with higher incomes to report missing work in the past three months due to COVID-related concerns, particularly when it comes to workplace closures. Six in ten workers with household incomes less than $40,000 report missing work for COVID concerns during the past three months, compared to less than four in ten of higher income workers. In particular, one-third of lower-income workers (35%) say they missed work because their workplace was closed or had reduced hours, compared to fewer than one in ten among workers with higher incomes. Half of Hispanic workers (47%) say they have had to miss work in the past three months due to COVID-19-related issues as did four in ten White workers (42%) and more than one-third (35%) of Black workers.

Among the 42% of workers who had to miss work due to COVID-19 concerns or sickness, six in ten (62%) say missing work had a major impact or minor impact on their familys stress level and four in ten (44%) say it has impacted their familys finances. About one in five say missing work had a major impact on the level of stress in their family (22%) or on their familys finances (19%).

Overall, about one in ten workers say that they had to miss work due to COVID-related concerns in the past three months, and that missing work had a major impact on their familys stress or finances. Individuals living in households with lower incomes are more likely to report that missing work had a major negative impact on their family. One-fourth of workers in households with incomes less than $40,000 report missing work for COVID-concerns and say that this had a major impact on their familys finances or the level of stress in their family, compared to less than one in ten in households with higher levels of income. One in five Hispanic adults (18%) report loss of work that had a major negative impact, as do about one in eight Black adults and one in ten White adults.

One way to protect employees health and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in workplaces is for employers to offer their employees paid time off. About half of workers (52%) say their employer provides paid time off if they get sick from COVID-19 while less than half report receiving paid time off if they need to quarantine (44%), or to stay home with a child (35%) who cant attend school or daycare because of COVID-related concerns. Slightly more than one-third of all employees say their employer offers paid time off to get vaccinated or boosted (37%) or to recover from vaccine side effects (36%).

While half of all workers report paid time off if they are sick from COVID-19, getting time off to recover from COVID is less common among those in households with lower incomes. One-third (32%) of workers in households with incomes below $40,000 report getting paid time off if they get sick from COVID-19 compared to more than half (57%) of those earning $40,000 or more. Similarly, three in ten (28%) lower-income workers report having paid time off if they need to quarantine following a COVID-19 exposure compared to half of higher-income workers. About one-third of lower-income workers report being unaware if they receive paid time off in either of these instances.

Among those who report missing work due to COVID-19 concerns or sickness in the last three months, less than half report that their employer offers paid time off if they get sick from COVID-19 (48%), if they need to quarantine because of a COVID-19 exposure (42%), or if their child has to stay home from school or daycare (27%).

A notable share of workers, especially among lower-income households, say they have gone to work amidst COVID-19 concerns because they couldnt afford to miss work. One in ten workers (11%) say they have gone to work when they had COVID-19 symptoms or had been exposed to the virus because they couldnt afford to take the time off, rising to about three in ten among those in lower-income households (those earning less than $40,000 annually). Fifteen percent of workers whose employer does not offer paid time if they get sick from COVID-19 say they have gone into work when they had COVID-19 symptoms or had been exposed because they couldnt afford to take the time off (compared to six percent of those whose employer offers paid time off).

Additionally, five percent of employed parents say they have sent their child to school or daycare when they had COVID-19 symptoms or had been exposed to the virus because they couldnt take the time off work.

Many workers also report being exposed to coronavirus at work with one-third of those who tested positive or had to quarantine saying their exposure happened at their workplace. Half (52%) say their exposure occurred outside of work while an additional 15% are unsure where they were exposed to coronavirus.

Overall, about three in ten U.S. adults say their household has had difficulty paying bills over the past three months, during the latest wave of coronavirus cases with the omicron surge. This includes one in five (17%) who say they have fallen behind in paying credit cards or other bills, and about one in ten who say they have had problems paying for food (13%), medical bills (12%), affording health insurance (11%), or have fallen behind in their rent or mortgage payments (9%).

The share of households who experienced economic impacts during the omicron surge is somewhat lower than the level measured at other points during the pandemic (July 2020 and February 2021) when there was a large number of cases of the virus in the U.S. but before there were vaccines widely available.

While the share of U.S. adults who reported difficulty paying bills or expenses wasnt as widespread as seen during previous coronavirus waves, members of racial and ethnic minority groups, as well as those with lower levels of income, are still reporting difficulty at higher rates.

Nearly half of Black adults (48%) and one-third of Hispanic adults (34%) report difficulty paying such bills, compared to a smaller share of White adults (22%). In addition, about half (47%) of those with household incomes less than $40,000 annually say they have had problems affording at least one of these expenses during the past 3 months, roughly four times the rate among those in families with incomes of at least $90,000 a year (12%).

Link:

KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: The Pandemic's Toll on Workers and Family Finances During the Omicron Surge - Kaiser Family Foundation