Health Policy

58% of those ages 18 to 29 have experienced high levels of psychological distress at least once between March 2020 and September 2022.

Our study analyzes 198 countries and territories and is based on policies and events in 2020, the most recent year for which data is available.

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.

On a couple of policies related to transgender people, there is some agreement among Americans, but views of other policies are more divided.

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.

Asked what more the government should do to support parents and children, Americans often mention forms of social or direct financial support.

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.

As has often been the case on policy questions about how to deal with the pandemic, partisans are far apart in their views on mask mandates.