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Almost 20% of U.S. Households Lost Entire Savings During Covid

Almost a third of those making less than $50,000 had their entire financial cushion wiped out.

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October 13, 2021, 3:43 PM UTC

For many Americans, Covid lockdowns—with nowhere to go and nothing to do—were a time to save. But for almost 20% of U.S. households, the pandemic wiped out their entire financial cushion, a poll released Tuesday finds.

The share of respondents who said they lost all their savings jumped to 30% for those making less than $50,000 a year, the poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds. Black and Latino households were also harder hit. The researchers surveyed a nationally representative sample of 3,616 U.S. adults ages 18 or older.