Report

CFI COVID-19 Survey of Consumers – Cautious Optimism Reigns in Wave 9

Tom Akana

Senior Advisor and Research Fellow, Consumer Finance Institute

08 Sep ’21

This report shares results from Wave 9 of a national survey of consumers investigating the effects of COVID-19 on employment and income data, including expectations for income in 2021 and information on financial security over the next three to 12 months.

Results collected during the ninth COVID-19 Survey of Consumers in July 2021 reveal that respondents’ overall levels of financial concern — worries about their ability to make ends meet — decreased in July after unexpectedly rising in April. In the latest survey conducted by the Philadelphia Fed’s Consumer Finance Institute (CFI), we continue to see differences in the level and rate of change in financial concern across demographic segments. For instance, financial concerns among respondents earning more than $75,000 annually declined about the same amount across short- and long-time horizons. On the other hand, respondents earning less than $40,000 reported higher financial concerns over the next three months but lower financial concerns over a 12-month horizon. We also provide updates on data concerning working onsite and working normal or increased hours. More details are available in the full report.

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Overdraft Use During the Pandemic: Insights from the CFI COVID-19 Survey of Consumers

30 Aug ’21

This research brief examines consumers’ experiences with checking account overdrafts since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, using responses gathered from a special module in the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Consumer Finance Institute "COVID-19 Survey of Consumers."

Consumer Finance

Brief

Despite Significant Vaccine Reluctance, More Consumers Are Upbeat About the Future

With vaccines becoming available to all adults in the United States, this latest research brief focuses on how receptive or reluctant consumers were in getting vaccinated based on data from the Consumer Finance Institute’s COVID-19 Survey of Consumers.

Consumer Credit

Report

CFI COVID-19 Survey of Consumers — Recovery Is Starting, but Not for Everyone

Tom Akana

July 2021

This report shares results from Wave 8 of a national survey of consumers investigating the effects of COVID-19 on employment and income data, including new data from revised survey questions that take into account the duration of the pandemic.