By Joshua Huff, sports editor
A new poll released on Tuesday showed the widespread affect that the coronavirus pandemic has had on households throughout the country.
A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll shows that nearly 1 in 5 households in the nation have experienced a layoff or a reduction in work hours as the virus shutters industries and locks down cities throughout the nation.
As counties and cities like Jefferson County prohibit dining at restaurants, bars, brewery’s or Category 3 food service establishments along with instituting more guidelines that limit social gatherings, the economic wheel has slowly begun to grind to a halt, hurting a whole host of industries.
The poll, which was conducted on March 13-14, found that nearly 18% of households in the country have been impacted by the social gathering prohibitions. The poll showed that lower-income workers were affected the most, with a quarter of households making less than $50,000 experiencing job loss or the loss of hours.
A third of American have had at least one person in a household change their working patterns, as well. According to NPR, college graduates (43%) were more likely to experience this shift than non-graduates (25%) as many blue-collar and service jobs are unable to be done remotely.