More than one-third of Americans who lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and related economic recession cannot last more than one month on their savings.
That’s according to a new study from SimplyWise, which found that 38% of Americans who either lost a job or had their income reduced during the crisis did not have enough money stashed away to live off of it for longer than a month.
One in five respondents said their savings would last just two weeks – an alarming statistic that comes just three weeks after the supplemental $600-a-week in unemployment benefits expired for some 30 million Americans.
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The pandemic, which triggered an unprecedented shutdown of the nation’s economy, has caused the worst unemployment crisis since the Great Depression.
The Labor Department’s July jobs report released at the beginning of August showed that employers added 1.8 million jobs last month, sending the unemployment rate down to 10.2%.
While it marked the third consecutive month of job growth in the millions, the economy has so far added back less than half – about 42 percent – of the 22 million jobs it lost during the pandemic.
When the $600-a-week federal benefit lapsed at the end of July, the typical unemployment check returned to an average of $330 per week for most Americans, a significant benefit cut for individuals collecting the aid.
Forty-two percent of adults said they could not come up with $500 in cash without selling something or taking out a loan, according to the survey. The percentage was even higher among laid-off workers, at 61%.
There was also a racial divide in the data. Sixty-three percent of Black Americans said they could not come up with $500 in cash, compared to 35% of White Americans.
SimplyWise conducted its online survey of 1,128 American adults in early July, before the sweetened jobless aid expired.
