Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have asked respondents how COVID-19 has impacted their personal finances. In our post from December 2020, we found that COVID-19 had a disproportionately negative impact on women financially, compared to men. Consistent with previous findings, results from our latest survey reveal that nearly 60% of men have not been financially affected by COVID-19, while only 45% of women said the same.
Additionally, we found that 21% of women and 11% of men have accumulated
more debt than usual, due to COVID-19. This is significantly higher than our findings from March 29, 2021, where 11% of women and 7% of men indicated they had increased their amount of debt.
The economic fallout of COVID-19 is not the only factor causing financial stress. In our latest survey, we find agreement among women and men that the most significant source of stress is around inflation and the increased cost of living, at 74% and 75%, respectively.
Results are based on surveys of 224 respondents from March 11, 2022, through March 15, 2022. All surveys were conducted online by respondents in the United States.
For more information about our survey techniques, visit our Methods page.