Poll: Half of Americans financially affected by coronavirus

Half the country has been personally economically impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and overwhelming numbers of Americans do not think schools, restaurants or sporting events with large crowds should reopen until there is further testing, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

President Trump does not fare very well as far as his handling of the pandemic goes. Most Americans, except Republicans, disapprove of the job he's doing on it, and there are massive divides by gender and educational attainment.

What's more, with the presidential election less than seven months away, more than half the country prefers that presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden handle the pandemic — and even the economy, what Trump has been hanging his hat on for reelection.

Fifty percent of Americans said they or someone in their household has either lost hours or a job because of coronavirus, up from 18 percent a month ago. And the pandemic is having a harsher economic effect on people of color, those without a college degree, younger people and those who make less money.

Of non-whites, 60 percent said they or someone in their household has lost hours or a job, compared to 43 percent of whites; 55 percent percent of those without a degree, those under 45 and those making less than $50,000 a year also said so.

"There are few households in the country that haven't been affected by this crisis, through health, through school, through jobs, from all walks of life, from all backgrounds," said Barbara Carvalho, director of the Marist Poll, which conducted the survey. "No one has really gone untouched. However, we certainly see from the data as well that a lack of a strong safety net, especially for many middle-class or working-class Americans, it has some really, really big holes in it.

She added, "These numbers show the struggle, the impact the crisis has had on Americans."

Eighty percent or more of people who responded do not want schools, restaurants or large sporting events to start taking place as normal again until there is further testing. And two-thirds don't want Americans to physically go back to work without that widespread testing, but a majority of Republicans do.

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Views of Trump

Overall, 44 percent of Americans approve of the job President Trump is doing in handling coronavirus. That roughly reflects his overall approval rating in past polls, but his disapproval rating jumped six points in the past month, from 49 percent to 55 percent.

Solid majorities of Democrats and independents disapprove of the job Trump is doing handling the pandemic, but almost nine-in-10 Republicans approve.

Trump gets higher marks for his handling of the economy with 50 percent approving of the job he's doing related to it. The difference is with independents. A majority of them disapproved of his handling of coronavirus by a wide 58 percent-to-40 percent margin, but a majority of them narrowly approved of the job he's doing on the economy (51 percent to 46 percent).

More Americans, though, think their governor is doing a better job than the president in handling both the pandemic and the economy. On coronavirus, almost two-thirds said their governor (64 percent) is doing a better job than Trump (32 percent). On the economy, 54 percent said their governor is doing a better job than Trump (39 percent).

Massive gender and educational divides

There are huge splits between men and women and if someone has a college degree, in terms of how Trump is viewed.

Men versus women:

-58 percent of men approve of Trump's handling of the economy; 56 percent of women disapprove;

-52 percent of men approve of Trump's handling of coronavirus; 63 percent of women disapprove.

College degree or not:

-54 percent of college graduates disapprove of the job Trump's doing on the economy; 55 percent of those without one approve;

-64 percent of those with a college degree disapprove of Trump's handling of coronavirus; 50 percent of those without one approve.

The looming presidential election

Coronavirus could wind up being the major issue in the 2020 presidential election, according to strategists who are already gearing up for that likelihood.

According to this poll, a third of people said coronavirus will either be a major (14 percent) or minor one (20 percent). But about two-thirds (64 percent) said they've already made up their minds. So that group that could be swayed and is judging the president based on his handling of the pandemic could well be determinative.

Also, majorities said they prefer Biden over Trump when it comes to handling both coronavirus (55 percent to 40 percent) and even the economy (51 percent to 44 percent) — what could be a difficult sign for Trump.

The survey of 1,008 adults was conducted by calling mobile phones and landlines, from April 21 through April 26 by The Marist Poll, in both English and Spanish with data collection provided by SSRS. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points. The survey was sponsored in partnership with NPR and PBS NewsHour.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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