December 2020
Abstract: We draw on new high-frequency survey data collected from repeated cross-sections of Americans between June and November 2020. These data capture rich measures of household financial fragility and employment status. We find evidence of a building “second wave” of negative shocks to household finances and of growing inequality in financial fragility by household income, educational attainment, and gender from August to November of 2020. Finally, using difference-in-difference models, we estimate that the expiration of the CARES Act’s Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefits, which augmented unemployment insurance by $600 a week, significantly increased the financial fragility of unemployed workers in America.