Women, Gen Z, and Millennials all experiencing pronounced effects from pandemic
January 19, 2021
Chicago – Newly released findings from a study of over 35,000 U.S. adults quantify the upheaval to Americans’ personal and professional lives due to Covid-19. Socially, almost seven in ten women have felt isolated from family friends compared to just roughly half of men who have experienced the same. Almost four in ten women also report feeling more depressed than usual compared to fewer than three in ten men. Sleep issues have arisen at greater rates (32%) for women than for men (22%) as well.
“Consumers are thinking about wellness holistically today to encompass both mental and physical health. For product categories like CBD, which can address a range of conditions, the pandemic is having a historic knock-on effect. ”
Gen Z and Millennials appear hardest hit by the economic fallout during the survey period. On average, about one in four Gen Z and Millennial respondents reported having lost a job or taken a reduction to hours or pay. However, most of the spending cutbacks are driven by older consumers: respondents aged 40 years and over make up 65% of those who report reduced household spending due to Covid-19.
Market research company High Yield Insights ran the survey from September to October 2020, collecting data from over 35,000 U.S. adults age 21 and over. Respondents addressed how the pandemic has stirred mental health concerns, upended shopping habits, and sparked interest in new wellness products. The study also delved deep into the use and interest in cannabidiol (often referred to as CBD) as a source of relief for health issues associated with or exacerbated by the pandemic.
“Our findings capture an image of what some are rightly calling the mental health epidemic in America,” said Mike Luce, President of High Yield Insights and a 20-year veteran in consumer insights and market research. “Consumers are thinking about wellness holistically today to encompass both mental and physical health. For product categories like CBD, which can address a range of conditions, the pandemic is having a historic knock-on effect. The growing popularity of CBD is evidenced by the number of people who started using one or more CBD products last year. For example, we discovered almost one in four U.S. CBD consumers started using CBD in the six months leading up to our survey.”
The study went on to quantify changes to shopping habits due to Covid-19. Documenting the changes to shopping preferences shows markedly different responses to the pandemic across demographic groups. For example, 53% of respondents from households with annual earnings of $150,000 or more annually indicate doing more shopping online. By contrast, only 33% of those from lower-income (under $35,00) households have shifted to more online shopping.
