WASHINGTON–American families fared better in July than April, but many still faced uncertainty regarding layoffs and prospects for returning to work, according to the Federal Reserve Board's seventh annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking.
The data come from a pair of supplemental surveys the Fed said it conducted in recognition of the unprecedented financial disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first of these surveys was conducted in April, at the onset of the pandemic and before most financial relief efforts were in place. The April results were described in the Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2019, Featuring Supplemental Data from April 2020. The second survey was conducted in July.
In July, 77% of adults said they were doing at least OK financially, up from 72% in early April, and 75% in October 2019, according to the Fed.
“This increase is likely due to some people returning to work as well as the availability of assistance programs either from the government or from charitable organizations,” the Fed said in releasing the findings. “A substantial number of families received one or more forms of financial assistance, and the effects of these programs were apparent in people's overall financial well-being and ability to cover expenses.”
Better Able to handle Small Emergencies
According to the Fed, the July survey demonstrated that people appeared better able to handle small financial emergencies than they were nine months prior in October 2019. Seventy percent of adults said in July that they would be able to pay an unexpected $400 emergency expense entirely by using cash, savings, or a credit card paid off at the next statement—an increase from 63% last October.
While financial assistance programs provided some buffer from economic hardships and some people have returned to their jobs, the Fed noted it found many others remain out of work. Fourteen percent of all adults reported being laid off since the pandemic began. Among those laid off, 30% said in the July survey that they had returned to their former job, up from 5% in April. An additional 10% said they were working elsewhere and did not expect to return to their old job, the Fed reported.
“Still, a larger share of laid-off workers expected the layoff to be permanent than in April. In July, 22% of adults who had been laid off said that they were not employed and that they did not expect to return to their old jobs,” the Fed stated. “This is up from 7% of laid-off workers who reported in April that they were not employed and did not expect to return to their old jobs.”
More Difficult for Low-Income Workers
The Fed further noted the recent survey also shows that laid-off workers with low incomes are somewhat less likely to have returned to the same job. Twenty-five percent of laid-off workers with family incomes under $40,000 returned to the same job, compared with 39% of laid-off workers with family incomes over $100,000.
The report, downloadable data, and a video summarizing the survey's findings may be found here.