Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
COVID-19 ruined finances across the US. Here’s who suffered most
North America | Economy | COVID-19
June 16, 2021 – Our new survey of 25,000 Americans revealed that several groups that were already struggling before the pandemic have cut their spending more, are now less financially secure, and are generally worse off than before. Click through to see how these groups and others were affected on five financial dimensions.
Interactive
To read the article, see “Unequal America: Ten insights on the state of economic opportunity,” May 26, 2021.
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Visual form
Two-sided horizontal bar sequence.
Layout / body structure
The visible slide is built as one long demographic table with the comparison bars on the right. Read each row from the demographic label, across the Cut back bar on the left side of the center line, and then to the Did not cut back bar on the right side.
What is being compared
It compares the share of respondents who cut back on food or medical spending in the past 12 months with the share who did not, across gender, race and ethnicity, income level, sexual orientation, and mental-health-status groups.
Measurement system
The measure is percent of respondents. Each row uses two directly labeled horizontal bars, with dark navy for Cut back and bright blue for Did not cut back; neutral responses are excluded.
Visible structure inside the graphic
Rows are grouped by demographic section, and the bars pivot around the center comparison between Cut back and Did not cut back. The visible Spending cuts slide includes values such as 31 versus 47 for all respondents, 43 versus 30 for households below $25,000, and 48 versus 29 for gay, lesbian, or bisexual women.
Main takeaway from the visual
The chart shows that financial stress was uneven. Lower-income respondents, people of color, gay, lesbian, and bisexual respondents, and respondents with diagnosed or sought mental-health treatment report more cutbacks than the overall sample.
Key standout values or extremes
The strongest visible Cut back readings include 48 percent for gay, lesbian, or bisexual women, 43 percent for households below $25,000, 43 percent for respondents diagnosed with or seeking mental-health treatment, and 41 percent for Hispanic and Latino respondents.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
The chart is a five-slide sequence. The Prev and Next buttons inside the chart move through the economic-concern views while preserving the same demographic comparison structure.
Companion media, when applicable
The chart is the full visual on this page. There is no separate companion audio or video outside the visual.