The data below reflects the findings of a national survey of 3,500 American adults conducted by Azurite Consulting, a tech-enabled consulting firm that uses unique methodologies, on behalf of Peak Prosperity to reveal the specific changes in behavior and sentiment triggered by the coronavirus in US households and businesses. This online survey of the PeakProsperity.com audience was conducted April 17-24, 2020, and is subject to a +/- 1.7 percentage point margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level.
‘All-American Impact Survey’ Three Key Findings
Beyond the high cost in human life already suffered, much of American society — perhaps even the future of the Presidency itself — has fallen victim to the the microscopic covid-19 virus.
So much damage has been done to job security, social norms, and voter trust that it will be years before life returns to the way it was before, if ever. Many of the changes forced on us by the pandemic are looking to be permanent.
#1: Covid-19 Is An Existential Threat To Businesses & Jobs
Despite quick and widespread layoffs and furloughs to cut costs, many companies fear they may not survive much longer. And those that do, don’t plan to hire back the same number of workers they’ve let go:
- Half (49%) of all Americans report a loss income, partial or total, attributed to covid-19
- If social distancing lasts until October, more than a third (36%) of US SMBs don’t believe they will survive
- After the US emerges from covid-19, 70% of American c-suite executives and SMB owners plan to hire fewer employees back to perform the same work. Only 4% currently plan to hire more people than before.
#2: Covid-19 Is Pinching Budgets, Reducing Savings & Spoiling Retirement
The loss of income and reduced job security caused by the coronavirus, combined with the related recent stock market volatility, are making US households more financially insecure:
- 19% of Americans are having to dip into their savings accounts to cover normal monthly expenses due to the impact of covid-19
- 18% of retirees are considering having to return to the workforce to bolster their retirement savings
- In order to make ends meet, households are cutting back on expenses. 62% of Americans have increased their home cooking and 36% are buying less “indulgent” foods. 39% have postponed larger household purchases (TVs, cars, designer clothing, home improvement, etc)
#3: Covid-19 Has Resulted In So Much Loss Of Voter Trust That It May Cost President Trump The 2020 Election
The majority of the voting public is dissatisfied with the federal government’s response to the pandemic, much more so compared to state and local levels. President Trump’s performance specifically receives the worst ratings of all, and that’s influencing a material percentage of voters in the 2020 swing states to decline to vote for him:
- 73% say they now trust the Federal government less since the covid-19 outbreak. This loss of trust is much more severe than that reported for state (41%) and local (30%) governments.
- 58% of all voters report themselves as dissatisfied with President Trump’s performance. 44% report themselves as “extremely dissatisfied” (0 or 1 on a 10 point scale)
- Only 73% of 2016 Trump voters in the 2020 swing states are willing to say they’ll vote for him again. More than half of the remaining 27% plan to vote for another candidate or not at all.
“Four months ago, the world was unaware of covid-19,” notes Adam Taggart, president and co-founder of Peak Prosperity. “Now the pandemic is directing nearly every decision we make while clouding our personal, professional and national prospects with an ongoing uncertainty. That’s why accurate insights of the kind Azurite has helped us obtain through this survey are so important to households and businesses right now. Without good data, how will we collectively navigate well through this challenging time in history?”
“To date, there has been a pronounced lack of statistically sound data on how Covid-19 continues to swiftly alter the world around us.” says Eli Diament, founder of Azurite Consulting. “Azurite is excited to partner with Peak Prosperity to produce one of the first studies of this scale and rigor, to help households, business leaders, the media and policymakers utilize reliable data to underpin their decision making
Further insights from the All-American Impact survey are presented below.
For media inquiries, contact Annie Scranton ([email protected]) of Pace Public Relations.
To download the full survey results, press ready graphics and obtain details on the methodology used, click the button below:
PeakProsperity.com publishes analysis on the macro trends most likely to impact our future and helps individuals prepare prudently for them. Its website receives over one million visits per month and over 350,000 subscribers follow its daily video reports on YouTube.
Azurite Consulting is the leading provider of unique primary research to private equity firms, hedge funds, and large enterprises. Azurite’s unique methodologies provide our clients with original primary research they can trust, allowing them to make their most critical decisions with the highest degree of conviction.
___________________________________
‘All-American Impact Survey’ Additional Findings
In addition to the insights above, the survey reveals that Americans are being forced by covid-19 to adopt more cautious behavior that will handicap economic recovery and likely strain social unity.
That said, life under lockdown isn’t all bad news.
Personal Life In The Age Of Covid-19: Caution Is King
It will take a long time for American life to return to “normal”, as people plan to refrain from many common activities for months (at least) after the lockdown is lifted, and in a number of cases, even after a vaccine is widely available:
- Dining out: 53% won’t be comfortable going to a sit-down restaurant for at least 3 months after social distancing ends. 38% will wait at least 5 months. 24% won’t dine out until there’s a vaccine. 15% will wait 3 or months after a vaccine.
- Gyms: 57% of gym-goers will wait 3+ months before returning after social distancing ends
- Sporting event: 44% won’t attend a live game until a vaccine is issued, 63% of these people will wait at least another 3 months after the vaccine is out to attend
- Travel: Air: 36% who took at least 1 international flight in 2019 will not fly internationally again until a vaccine is available
- Travel: Cruise Ship: 22% of avid cruise goers say they’ll never take a cruise again. 65% will wait at least until there’s a vaccine. 55% of those waiting will delay their next cruise until at least 1 year after the vaccine is out.
- Casinos: 45% don’t plan to go until a vaccine is available. 35% of these people will wait at least 6 months after vaccine release before going back.
And even once a covid-19 vaccine becomes available, Americans will not rush to get it:
- 52% say they will wait at least 6 months after the vaccine’s release to take it
- 29% (included in the above 52%) plan on never taking it
Fear of becoming infected is pushing us towards becoming a divided nation. About half of Americans believes themselves to be at higher risk (due to age and/or pre-existing condition). As a result, they take the covid-19 threat substantially more seriously, and may increasingly clash with what they see as “reckless” behavior by others as lockdowns are lifted and social activity resumes:
- Those who consider themselves “At Risk” (AR) are substantially more critical than those who consider themselves “Not At Risk” (NAR) of the speed (73% AR vs 56% NAR) and forcefulness (64% AR vs 48% NAR) of the governments covid-19 response.
- At Risk respondents are half as likely to eat out (19% AR vs 44% NAR) or shop in stores (11% AR vs 28% NAR) three times less likely to fly (6% AR vs 21% NAR) after social distancing ends
- At Risk respondent will wait TWICE as long to do ANYTHING (go to a movie theatre, house of worship, sporting event, etc) after a vaccine becomes available than NARs
On the home front, frazzled parents have had to determine on-the-fly how best to bend, break or completely re-draw home rules during this age of forced lockdown:
- 49% of American parents have relaxed TV watching rules
- ~40% have purchased games & activities to occupy their kid’s attention
- 39% are encouraging additional online education
- 27% are alternating working hours with their spouse in order to engage with their children. 18% are simply working fewer hours in order to be able to do so.
Given the sharp market drop and subsequent damage to the economy covid-19 has caused, Americans are now more likely to invest less in “paper” assets (stocks, bonds, Treasuries) and more in hard assets
- American investors plan reduce their exposure to the stock market by 15%
- 47% plan to increase their portfolio’s exposure to gold
Stressed out households are seeking comfort in cannabis, Consumption is increasing among marijuana smokers in lower-income households
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Marijuana smokers earning <$100k are 50% more likely to have increased cannabis consumption. They are also 2x more likely to have been laid off or furloughed from the impacts of covid-19.
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It’s not all fear, anxiety and struggle, though. On the more positive side, despite the uncertainty we’re all living under, the common adversary we face in the coronavirus is creating social solidarity:
- 29% of Americans have, for the first time, purchased or shared groceries and other essential supplies with/for their neighbors
- 36% of Americans report acting more friendly now to strangers
Business: Covid-19 Is Accelerating The Transition To A Remote Workforce
The digital collaboration tools (video conferencing, team communication/collaboration software, etc) being adopted during this forced ‘work from home’ period is accelerating permanent changes in the way American companies operate
- Nearly half (48%) report that 50% or more of their company’s employees are currently working from home
- 80% expect these newly-adopted tools to be used permanently by their business going forward
- 83% agree or strongly agree that these tools will result in greater flexibility to work from home after covid-19
Working from home has resulted in gains in personal satisfaction and career introspection among managers & employees:
- Nearly half (48%) of American managers report a better work/life balance now
- 36% of American employees report better work/life balance
- 57% of American corporate managers say they are going to prioritize job meaning (vs money) more highly for their next professional role
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A tremendous thanks to the thousands of Peak Prosperity readers who filled out this survey. We will be sharing additional insights from it soon, including any notable differences seen in international respondents.
Join the discussion
23 Comments
Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 8:50am
US Consumer Sentiment
I viewed similar results showing impact on multiple levels - personal, economic, and cultural. As of Apr 20:
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 9:35am
Covid-19 Is Changing The Way America Lives, Works & Votes, "but it shouldn't"
Covid -19 is social engineered disease to control us. When it all is said and done the number of deaths will likely be the same amount of people that die of narcotic drug overdose. By the end of spring in 2021 herd immunity will likely have happened and those that are at risk will die or severely disabled from it. Then the next season it will have just scant numbers like previous viral outbreaks. Just like the 2007 real estate bubble, the disaster is designed to affect the lower and middle class and will help bring more poverty and heartbreak to them. In some ways, I feel like peak prosperity is helping to make the outcome worse instead of better, a social engineered message that promotes fear and doesn't accept the fact that many of those at risk are likely gonna no matter how much care they receive in the hospital.
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 9:44am
Demographics?
The intro in italics says that this is a survey of Peak Prosperity members, but the findings refer to "all Americans." Surely the demographics of the two groupings is not the same with respect to age, income, preparedness, etc.
The difference between PP followers and the general public would be interesting -- the power of information and time.
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 10:34am
Loss of voter trust
I am not sure that the poll was totally unbiased politically. While I agree that voters have good reason not to trust any politicians I do not totally agree that Trump is the only one who will suffer from the handling of the coronavirus response. I took the survey and my response was that it is too early to lay blame at any one person's feet. For example what if the narrative currently being circulated concerning hydroxychloroquine and it's poor results turns out to be false? What if it is true? Any number of things can change my decision before November.
I will concede that the response has been inadequate. I know that a leader is only as good as the people who advise him. Our country has a level of bureaucracy unrivaled in history. It could be our downfall as a nation.
I think that we are headed into a terrible time of hardship and only the people who are able to adapt can thrive. Whether it had to be this way or not will be sorted out by historians. All we can do is move forward.
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 10:47am
Not Representative
I echo tourcarve's observation that this poll cannot be considered representative of America. We are a rather select tribe. I would not extrapolate any finding to the general population - anecdotally, the general public seems to be operating pretty much the way they always do: those who respond hysterically are being hysterical, those who shrug things off or don't give new developments much thought are behaving true to type.
With Tony McPherson I have to wonder if this poll tells us anything at all about Fall's voting patterns. Especially this far out.
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 10:57am
Representative Sample?
How is this different than what the two ER docs in CA did? If the sample are all or mostly people who hang around here, I have a hard time seeing how that is representative of the whole American population.
I'm an engineer and a teacher, not a statistician. Maybe someone better qualified can explain why inference is valid in this situation but not in the other one. I'm not trying to be difficult - it's a sincere question.
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 11:16am
AI predictions
Meet 'Salus' - The Pentagon's New COVID-Hotspot, Panic-Buying Predicting AI
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/meet-salus-pentagons-new-covid-hotspot-panic-buying-predicting-ai
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 1:06pm
biases
The results of this survey are not terribly surprising. Seems to be pretty consistent with what we hear on the msm.
However, I think there are reasons to suspect some biases in how the survey was structured and how it was answered.
First, "Azurite Consulting is the leading provider of unique primary research to private equity firms, hedge funds, and large enterprises." That tells me that they design their surveys to fill the needs or fairly well to do, corporate, investor class customers. A class which demographically means overwhelmingly white men.
Second, they designed it to appeal to members of PP, the membership of which (correct me if I'm wrong) is made up largely of right of center white men who share beliefs that society is headed for a collapse and a fair number of conspiracy theories.
So, I think the political findings may need a bit of clarification. Such as, any time you read "federal government" in the survey, substitute the words "Trump administration." This administration entered office with the intent to largely destroy the federal government to make way for a rich, white, libertarian, largely male autocratic elite. Experience, wisdom and expertise mean little to them. Therefore, they started out by eliminating as much of the science based agencies as they could, including the office that existed to prepare for and lead us through pandemics. Of course, they also gutted the EPA, NOAA and any other entity that knew anything about climate change or other potential environmental disasters.
There's a simple reason why the USA is by far the number 1 hotspot for covid 19 in the world, our response is being dictated by a narcissistic, intellectual and psychological infant and his sycophantic VP and their merry band of clowns. The result is that the USA, once the sole surviving great power on earth is viewed by the rest of the world with pity. How could we fall from such great heights to the laughing stock of the world?
This isn't because of some "deep state" plot, unless you consider the administration the "deep state", it is because we managed to elect the worst president to ever grace the office. The examples of his ineptness, insanity, ignorance and belligerence are too numerous to list here, but just a couple of his most recent bone head moves.
Suggesting that we consume disinfectants or insert light of some kind into our bodies.
Son-in-law and idiot Kushner claiming victory over covid 19 when we are obviously into the depths of the pandemic with much more to come.
And perhaps the most destructive and malicious of his policy blunders, doing little or nothing to help bring about widespread testing so that perhaps we can, someday, move on from this disaster.
There is nothing new here. We have known who DJT is since long before he was elected.
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 1:59pm
mav12 said:
Live NOW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVTPuyB_7DM
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 2:20pm
Demographics
This appears to be a solid survey of PP subscribers. However, I have the same concern as tourcarve, VTGothic, and jbuck about extrapolating the results of this survey to the general American population. If these results are to be generalized to Americans (or that of any other population), substantial data and analysis of the degree to which the demographics of this sample corresponds to the demographics of the American populace are needed.
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 3:23pm
Doug Did You Forget?
...my warning to you?
Seems you did.
I didn't.
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 5:00pm
Its been a long time...
...since we communicated about anything. So, no I don't recall.
Tell me what you warned me of and I'll try to edit my comment to comply.
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 6:31pm
Approval rating of Trump, unchanged?
I found this result pretty surprising, but then again in polls of the population in general, I find it curious that the approval rating of Trump appears essentially unchanged:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 6:42pm
Too late
Doug is a walking talking illustration of a violator of multiple site guidelines. Always has been. Send him packing back to CNNMSNBC. 👎👎👎
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 6:47pm
Good Info...
Interesting results of the survey & will take a closer look over the next couple days to dig deeper after reviewing the downloaded copy. A couple initial observations:
1. Confidence in the economy is tepid at best...much uncertainty in general on the future.
2. Not sure if we can interpret the results as being representative of the general population as there was a large percentage of respondents outside of the US and not all states represented.
3. Trust in government on both sides of the aisle seems very low...the entire response is a fumble of epic proportions based on my vantage point.
4. Doug's got some bias issues and should probably search his deleted file for Chris' e-mail...
Thanks guys, for putting this together and making the effort to capture this data...
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 7:08pm
These are the Dougs of our Lives...
It's interesting how quickly manufactured drama stands out once you've been exposed to enough of it.
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 8:09pm
IMO, Doug raises some valid points that merit further inquiry and discussion
I don't know the history of Doug and Chris's interactions on this site, but I do recognize that Doug's comment above is pushing up against some long-standing PP guidelines and rules re: posting political comments. (Lol, not that that has ever happened here on the PP site! 😉 )
However, IMO he makes some valid arguments I think regarding potential bias from the self-selection of survey respondents to those within the PP online community. There may be a portion of unknown (to us) number and significance that are not PP subscribers, and it would be interesting to see that breakdown, but I suspect that it is very low.
I was a bit frustrated with the summary article above because I kept looking but not finding "N" for respective queries and responses, and other basic respondent details such as demographics (e.g., age, gender, race/ethnicity). I downloaded the more detailed survey report, which is very detailed and provided some important information not included in the summary above. I'll go through this more thoroughly tonight when I have more time. However, I did notice that males are over represented in the survey sample compared to the general population; and that there are few or no survey respondents from several states. There were many other items of interest and some questions that would merit further analysis and questions about methodology. I'm also curious, not necessarily critical, of the intended and potential uses of these data and respondent information, some of which is very sensitive (and therefore very valuable, possibly profitable--depending on how it might be "sliced and diced") concerning certain areas of inquiry (e.g., income, intentions).
But overall I think this is a very useful endeavor that may provide valuable and actionable information for multiple audiences and purposes.
For the record, I participated/took the survey.
More later....
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 9:25pm
Trust in the federal govt doesnt have much more throw.
If it gets much less, it will ceased to exist. I was speaking with my wife, basically , I do not believe they offer anything of value to the people any more.. Its time for the states to take over.. Imagine what we could do, with the money saved on federal income tax.. No one would need SS, our homes would be paid long ago,, never needing disaster aid. the money saved in interest.. could be invested in retirement savings.. it would change our lives.. if not to have the federal govt.. As for military. we dont need it each state keeps a reserve, that can and will be called to action in time of need only. DONE.. dont need all they fat in the federal govt. and BS policy making.
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Thu, Apr 30, 2020 - 11:10pm
To be fair
I have been warned a few times over the last 12 years. I think I may know which transgression Chris refers to. Its a phrase that objectively is purely descriptive but raises some hackles.
I do recall being warned once not to discuss climate change outside the "controversial topics" dungeon. Since then, of course, Chris has come around to my point of view, and to his credit, has made climate change a major conversation topic here.
I guess my problem is that if you can't discuss the gorilla in the closet here, what is the site for?
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Fri, May 01, 2020 - 12:02pm
Kakistocracy (was: biases)
I don't share you're over-generalization of the population on this site.
However, just about everything else in your post rings fairly true. IMO, we've been subtly on a path towards a complete Kakistocracy for a while, but now that has been laid bare. The remaining persons with decent integrity and that are most qualified in gov are being labeled as part of the "Deep State" so they can be neutered or fired along with those that deserve the label. Our collective failure is nearly complete, IMO.
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Fri, May 01, 2020 - 5:07pm
What ‘thc0655’ said.
Please – no political rants or pushing of religious beliefs. Social media is the appropriate outlet for those kinds of comments.
Also, I find pointed overtones against ‘white men’ quite objectionable. I propose that this must not be allowed at Peak Prosperity.
And while I am not a ‘right of center white male’, even I have been expecting society to collapse for some time now. Let us remember that we were expecting a global recession or depression even before the pandemic hit, and in fact some areas had already fallen into a recession. The writing was on the wall. Anyone who does not see that society is collapsing is not paying attention.
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Sat, May 02, 2020 - 5:43am
Evidence of poor generalizability
I agree with all of you. The discount brokers are apparently reporting a large surge in individuals opening new accounts. According to ZeroHedge, Schwab reported 27 of its 30 busiest trading days occurred this year, including every trading day in March. If true, retail arrived with a large volume of small trades after the first spike down, wanting to pick up the bargains that they missed over the past decade. Unless the survey anticipated a lot of new retail brokerage accounts and a net increase in retail stock purchases, which it seems like it didn’t, it is not a representative sample of American behavior, and - of course - just describes some of us. This is a surprising lapse considering how much attention Chris pays to the issue of random sampling in papers describing disease prevalence. Let’s play by our own ground rules.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/its-gambling-isnt-it-first-time-retail-investors-piled-stocks-during-march-plunge
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Wed, May 13, 2020 - 7:02pm
More recent survey by Energy Industry insiders
https://uh.edu/uh-energy/research/white-papers/white-papers-files/covid-return-to-work-white-paper.pdf
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