Millennials Report Greatest Impact of COVID-19 on Jobs and Income

Strada Center for Consumer Insights survey finds most Americans remain concerned about the financial and health impacts of COVID-19, but 70 percent of adults believe effects of the crisis will last no longer than six months.

INDIANAPOLIS — Strada Education Network, a national social impact organization dedicated to forging pathways between education and employment, has released new data from its weekly, nationally representative survey of Americans on COVID-19’s impact on their lives, work and education.

Since last week, the share of Americans who report feeling worried about the coronavirus may be stabilizing, as numbers declined from 56 percent to 50 percent, and expected negative impact on jobs, finances, and health remain elevated but are slightly less intense this week. Still, 65 percent of Americans are worried that they will lose their jobs.

“As we seek to more deeply understand the workforce impact of this fast-moving pandemic, we are identifying how impacts differ across demographic groups. Of note this week, Millennials reported the greatest career impact of the crisis so far — the same generation that faced the Great Recession during their early careers,” said Dave Clayton, Ph.D., senior vice president at the Strada Center for Consumer Insights. “In the coming weeks, we are paying close attention to how demographic and geographic differences in the data may surface new insights into how we chart a path forward.”

Additional Public Viewpoint: COVID-19 Work and Education key findings include:

  • 70 percent of adults believe that for them personally, the effects of the crisis will not last longer than six months.
  • 61 percent of Millennials said they had either lost their job or had their hours or earnings reduced as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Compared to:
    • 44 percent of Baby Boomers
    • 52 percent of Gen-Xs
    • 56 percent of Gen-Zs
  • Gen Xers and Millennials were the most likely to say that if they lost their job, they would need more education to maintain their current wage or salary.

The Public Viewpoint is produced by Strada Education Network’s Center for Consumer Insights, a research team that studies the experiences and perceptions of American adults in order to inform the development of a more consumer-centered learning ecosystem. The Center for Consumer Insights provides the nation’s only education consumer database, which includes more than 350,000 completed surveys about the education and work experiences of American adults.

View the full Public Viewpoint findings at: https://www.stradaeducation.org/publicviewpoint/.


About Strada Education Network

Strada Education Network is a national social impact organization dedicated to improving lives by forging clearer and more purposeful pathways between education and employment. The Network engages partners across education, nonprofits, business, and government to focus relentlessly on students’ success throughout all phases of their working lives. Together, we address critical college to career challenges through strategic philanthropy, research and insights, and mission-aligned affiliates. Learn more at stradaeducation.org.