

A survey from the United Kingdom’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) found that 20% of people with long Covid were not working, and an additional 16% were working reduced hours.The Minneapolis Fed study cited above found that 25.9% people with long Covid have had their work “impacted” (meaning that they are either out of work or working reduced hours).Understanding that impact requires three data points.įirst, we need to know what percentage of people with long Covid have left the workforce or reduced their work hours. But in many cases, long Covid impacts work. Mild symptoms, employer accommodations, or significant financial need can all keep people with long Covid employed.

4 As many as 4 million workers are likely out of work due to long Covid If we exclude that 50%, we are left with around 17 million people who may currently have long Covid-very near the HPS estimate of 16.3 million. The Minneapolis Fed study found that 50% of respondents had recovered from long Covid. If 24.1% of them have had long Covid, 34 million working-age Americans have, at some point, had long Covid. 3 And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 70% of Americans have contracted COVID-19.

Using a longitudinal survey, it found that 24.1% of people who have contracted COVID-19 experienced symptoms for three months or more, which the author defined as long Covid. 2Ī recent Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis study corroborates the HPS figure. The CPS asks about six specific manifestations of disability, which will likely identify some cases of long Covid, but almost certainly not all. 1 This report uses HPS data rather than Current Population Survey (CPS) data-which is generally more robust-because the HPS asks questions specific to long Covid, and the CPS does not. The Census Bureau’s June to July 2022 HPS survey found that 16.3 million people (around 8%) of working-age Americans currently have long Covid. Around 16 million working-age Americans likely have long Covid today With that in mind, the final section of this report identifies five critical interventions to mitigate both the economic costs and household financial impact of long Covid. does not take the necessary policy actions. These impacts stand to worsen over time if the U.S.
