Most young Americans are afraid of losing their jobs

Candice JaimungalSocial Media Contributor
July 09, 2020, 12:00 PM GMT+0

Young Americans are the most likely demographic to express fear of losing their job, according to a recent Economist/YouGov Poll.

About three in five (62%) US adults ages 18 to 29 say they are very or somewhat worried about losing their job. The data comes as the number of COVID-19 cases pass three million on July 8, 2020, and as the US economy continues to struggle.

Nearly half (46%) of Americans say they are very worried or somewhat worried about losing their job, compared to 52 percent who report they are not very worried at all. The data varies by age, as half (50%) of 30-to 44-year-olds, 65 percent of 45-to 64-year-olds, and two in three (66%) Americans over the age of 65, say they are not very worried about losing their job.

Regional differences are evident. Americans in the West (52%) are most likely to express a fear of losing their job compared to those in the South (49%), Northeast (41%), or Midwest (37%). Americans in the Midwest (63%) are most likely to say they are not very worried about losing their job.

Fear of job loss decreases slightly by income. Half (52%) of Americans with a household income under $50K say they are worried about losing their job. Of those that express fear, 16 percent of those with a household income under $50K say they are very worried, compared to 11 percent of Americans with a household income between 50K to 100K, and 7 percent of those with a household income over $100K.

Three in five (62%) Latino Americans say they are worried about losing their job, compared to half (49%) of Black Americans, and 42 percent of white Americans.

See the toplines and crosstabs from this week’s Economist/YouGov Poll

Methodology: The most recent Economist survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,500 U.S. adult citizens interviewed online between July 5 - 7, 2020. The approximate margin of error is 3.2 percentage points for the overall sample. Samples are weighted according to gender, age, race, and education based on the American Community Survey, conducted by the US Bureau of the Census, as well as 2016 Presidential vote, registration status, geographic region, and news interest. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all US citizens.

Image: Getty

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