Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

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.

While the total number of U.S. births declined at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021, the number of births at home rose.

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.

Last summer, businesses trying to come back from the COVID-19 pandemic hired nearly a million more teens than in the summer of 2020.

Increasing representation in science is seen as important for attracting more Hispanic people to science.

A majority of teens prefer in-person over virtual or hybrid learning. Hispanic and lower-income teens are particularly likely to fear they’ve fallen behind in school due to COVID-19 disruptions.

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.

Here is what Center surveys show about American moms’ experiences juggling work and parenting responsibilities during the COVID-19 outbreak.