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More Are Ready to Return to Work, Less Fearful of COVID-19 Risk

Voters are more eager to get back to work but aren’t convinced things will be returning to normal for many by next month. Most remain worried, too, that they’ll get the coronavirus if they return to the workplace.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 43% of Likely U.S. Voters think it’s time for America to get back to work, up from 36% less than three weeks ago. Thirty-eight percent (38%) still disagree, down from 49%, while 19% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

But 65% are concerned personally about getting the coronavirus if they go back to work, with 33% who are Very Concerned. That compares to 71% and 41% respectively in mid-April. Thirty-three percent (33%) don’t share that concern, but that includes only 13% who are Not at All Concerned.

Among those who are ready to return to work, however, only 45% are concerned about getting COVID-19 in the workplace, with 17% who are Very Concerned.

Thirty-nine percent (39%) of all voters agree with senior Trump adviser Jared Kushner that “I think you’ll see by June that a lot of the country should be back to normal.” Forty-four percent (44%) disagree. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided. The question did not identify the source of the quotation.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted April 30 and May 3, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Just 31% of Americans believe America is winning the war against the coronavirus, but there's a sizable partisan gap. Republicans are much more optimistic than Democrats are. Unaffiliated adults are closely divided.

Republicans (61%) are a lot more likely to agree with Kushner about a return to normalcy by June than Democrats (25%) and those not affiliated with either major party (32%). But then only 24% of Democrats are ready to get back to work, compared to 67% of Republicans and 41% of unaffiliateds.

Men are a lot more eager than women to return to work, perhaps because they’re less worried about getting the coronavirus in the workplace.  Those under 40 are more worried about getting sick even through they’re also more enthusiastic about going back to work.

Blacks are less willing to return to work than whites and other minority Americans. Whites are more skeptical than the others, though, that a lot of the country should be back to normal by June.

Only 18% of those who think Kushner is right are Very Concerned about getting the coronavirus if they go back to work. Among those who disagree with his statement, 48% are Very Concerned about getting sick.

Forty percent (40%) of all Americans now say they or someone in their immediate family has lost their job because of the coronavirus outbreak

As the coronavirus closes many businesses and takes the stock market on a thrill ride, confidence in the U.S. economy has plunged, dropping a staggering 45 points from last month to 94.6 in the Rasmussen Reports Economic Index. This is the lowest finding in six years of surveying and four points below the April 2014 baseline.

Voters question how long the United States can remain locked down because of the coronavirus, and most share President Trump’s worry that the government may go too far in its efforts to defeat the disease.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted April 30 and May 3, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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