Tracking the Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Lives of American Households

Abstract

Since March 10, 2020, we have been tracking effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on respondents to the nationally representative Understanding America Study (UAS). After an initial survey that covered March 10–31, 2020, we launched tracking surveys every two weeks. Every day, about 500 respondents are invited to take the survey for a total of about 7,000 respondents over a two-week period. Results are shared in a variety of ways. About 3,000 graphs are updated every night, with the corresponding tab-delimited text files available for download. The underlying micro-data are available for registered researchers after the end of each four-week field period. The paper describes the set-up of the tracking survey, lists the main topics covered and highlights a number or early results. Our ambition is to keep tracking the experiences of U.S. households for as along as the pandemic lasts.