The Changing Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Individuals and Households in the U.S.
Our research aims to understand the changing impacts of the pandemic upon households from different places and backgrounds living in the United States. We investigated the effects of the pandemic and its restrictions and rules on people’s behavior along with their mental and emotional health, social relations, and livelihoods. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only effort that joins passive data from cell phones with survey responses from the same individuals over time. We combined these data with county-specific inventory of pandemic rules and regulations regarding shelter-in-place, and mask wearing.
We have two sets of findings with the following highlights:
(1) Pandemic-related Behaviors - Those not wearing masks move around more; Though conservatives are more risk-taking, their movement is similar to that of liberals; Unwillingness to be vaccinated has increased, and travel trends suggest COVID-19 transmission consequences.
(2) Economic Impacts - Economically-impacted households are more depressed and have not been able to reduce their travel; Poor accessibility has affected more vulnerable households; More households are moving residences, largely for reasons of economic precarity.