One in four American adults said they had struggled to pay bills during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and one in three said they drew on savings or retirement accounts to make such payments, a Pew Research Center survey found. Black and Hispanic Americans were more likely than other groups to report having such issues.
Source: Kim Parker, Rachel Minkin and Jesse Bennett, “Economic Fallout From COVID-19 Continues To Hit Lower-Income Americans the Hardest,” Pew Research Center, Sept. 24, 2020, https://tinyurl.com/surwvjev
Data for the graphic are as follows:
| Category | Percentage of All Adults | Percentage of White Adults | Percentage of Black Adults | Percentage of Hispanic Adults | Percentage of Asian Adults |
| Used money from savings/retirement to pay bills | 33% | 29% | 40% | 43% | 33% |
| Had trouble paying bills | 25% | 18% | 43% | 37% | 23% |
| Gotten food from a food bank/organization | 17% | 11% | 33% | 30% | 14% |
| Had problems paying rent/mortgage | 16% | 11% | 28% | 26% | 15% |