Telework Among Top Worries In NC: Pandemic Survey

NORTH CAROLINA — In recent months, there have been more than a few things keeping up residents of North Carolina, particularly when it comes to teleworking, paying for household expenses and the prospect of an eviction or foreclosure.

This was among several findings collected through phase two of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, an initiative led by the bureau and other federal agencies to collect real-time data on how people’s lives have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The invitation-only survey measures how people are experiencing business restrictions and closures, stay-at-home orders, school closures, changes in the availability of consumer goods and patterns, and other abrupt and significant changes to American life.

The purpose of it, according to the bureau’s website, is to help plan the ongoing federal response to the pandemic.

The first phase of the survey asked people about their experiences with employment status, food security, housing, physical and mental health, access to health care, and educational disruption.

The second phase of the survey, which collected data between Aug. 19 and Oct. 24, carried over several questions from phase one and focused on questions about receiving unemployment and Social Security benefits, spending patterns, financial security, working from home, and more.

Here are some of the other findings based on phase two responses from North Carolina residents:

• 17.3 percent: Adults who expect someone in their household to lose employment income in the next four weeks.

• 8.1 percent: Adults who said there was either sometimes or not enough to eat in the last seven days.

• 4.7 percent: Adults who are not current on rent or mortgage payments, or who have little or no confidence their household can pay next month’s rent or mortgage on time.

• 25 percent: Adults whose families are not current on rent or mortgage payment, and eviction or foreclosure in the next two months is either very likely or somewhat likely.

• 28.9 percent: Adults who said it has been somewhat or very difficult to pay for usual household expenses during the coronavirus pandemic.

• 80.1 percent: Households where at least one adult was planning to take post-secondary classes this fall but whose plans have either been canceled or changed in some significant way.

• 36.8 percent: Households where at least one adult has substituted some or all of their typical in-person work for telework because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Census Bureau plans to start releasing phase three findings on Nov. 18. For the final phase, no changes were made to survey questions.

See current data for all states here. Past data collected during phase one and two is also available on the Census Bureau’s website.