HerMoney and Debt.com Survey: Pandemic Might Have “Silver Lining”

COVID-19 has changed how we think about our healthcare and our social lives. Will it change how we think about our finances?

By Joe Pye for Debt.com

January 12, 2021

Long after the vaccines are injected and the pandemic has passed, COVID-19’s aftermath might linger for years. Perhaps none will be more profound than how Americans think about their money.

A new poll from HerMoney.com and Debt.com asked more than 1,000 working Americans about their financial habits as the pandemic dragged into (and now past) December. More than two-thirds of respondents say they’re spending much less than during normal times — which includes those who haven’t suffered any income loss.

While that’s not really a surprise, this was: HerMoney and Debt.com asked, “Has the pandemic changed how you think about money?” For those who lost money in 2020 — from a quarter of their income to all of it — over 70 percent said the pandemic had changed their thinking in “profound ways.” But here’s the kicker: Among those who lost no income, those whose thinking changed in profound ways was still 50 percent.