Coronavirus (COVID-19)

About six-in-ten parents of K-12 children (61%) say the first year of the pandemic had a negative effect on their children’s education.

Widespread child care challenges from the coronavirus pandemic lasted into 2021 for some U.S. parents.

Overall, 46% of Americans say the statement “public health officials were unprepared for the outbreak” describes their views extremely or very well, including similar shares of Republicans and Democrats.

Online dating users who are Democrats are far more likely their Republican counterparts to say someone’s vaccination status is important for them to see.

Here’s what Americans said they learned about the development of vaccines and medical treatments and their advice for handling a future outbreak.

We asked respondents to describe in their own words what rose and fell in importance to them during the pandemic. Here are some of the key themes that emerged.

A median of 68% across 19 countries think their country has done a good job dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, with majorities saying this in every country surveyed except Japan. However, most also believe the pandemic has created greater divisions in their societies and exposed weaknesses in their political systems – and these view are especially common in the U.S.

While the total number of U.S. births declined at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021, the number of births at home rose.

Americans offer a lackluster evaluation of how the country has balanced priorities during the coronavirus outbreak. Fewer than half say the country has given the right amount of priority to the needs of K-12 students, public health or quality of life.

Last summer, businesses trying to come back from the COVID-19 pandemic hired nearly a million more teens than in the summer of 2020.