The Pandemic Paradox: How the COVID Crisis Made Americans More Financially Secure

Why most Americans’ finances improved during the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression—and the policy choices that made this possible

In March 2020, economic and social life across the United States came to an abrupt halt as the country tried to slow the spread of COVID-19. In the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression, twenty-two million people lost their jobs between mid-March and mid-April of 2020. And yet somehow the finances of most Americans improved duri...