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Low-income, minority Americans getting hit the most by COVID-19 economic fallout

Posted at 8:53 PM, Sep 24, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-24 20:53:16-04

A pair of studies released in recent days show how the worst of the economic woes have hit lower-income and minority Americans.

According to Pew Research, 46% of lower-income Americans have trouble paying bills since March. The data also indicated that 51 % of lower income Americans have had more difficulty saving money since the start of the pandemic.

For those considered “upper income,” just 21% say were saving less money than before the pandemic, compared to 25% of upper-income Americans who were able to save more, according to Pew.

Pew’s data also showed that minorities were much more likely to be financially impacted. The data showed that 11% of whites received assistance from a food pantry or food bank since March, compared to 33% of Blacks and 30% of Hispanics.

The data also showed that Blacks and Hispanics were two times more likely to have difficulty paying bills.

A study by Harvard released earlier this month showed similar data.

The data found that 71% of Americans with a household income of less than $30,000 faced financial difficulty amid the pandemic, compared to 20% of households making more than $100,000. The data also found that 72% of Latinos and 60% of Blacks faced financial burdens compared to 36% of whites.