Americans Happier, Worrying Less

COVID-19 lockdowns are nearing their third month of implementation, however a new survey suggests Americans are finding ways to worry less and be more happy during isolation.

In a new survey from Gallup that asked people what emotion they felt most the day previously, 72 percent of respondents said they mostly felt happy the previous day. Unsurprisingly, nearly half of respondents said they worried, while over 40 percent said they felt boredom and nearly a quarter responded that they felt loneliness.

Since the survey began in March, the happiness score has increased by 5 percentage points while the worried score has decreased by 12 percentage points. The initial fear of the unknown COVID-19 virus could be a reason for why numbers are now down for anxiety, as people feel they have a better understanding of its lethality.

Americans across the country have also started to relax social distancing measures, and many states have begun to reopen essential and non-essential businesses.

Demographically, minorities and lower income classes were more likely to experience higher levels of anxiety, boredom and loneliness. Those making under $36,000 a year were 16 percentage points less likely to experience happiness than the cumulative average, while women were 7 percentage points higher than men in experiencing worry.

A decline in happiness and increase in anxiety is likely if reopening measures across the U.S. lead to further outbreaks and surges in COVID-19. If reopening measures are halted during the peak summer months, many could expect lockdowns and restrictions to resume and continue for the entire calendar year of 2020.