Professor James Druckman finds low income Americans remain socially isolated due to pandemic

Though COVID-19 vaccines are now widely available in the U.S., Political Science Professor James Druckman found that the social effects of the pandemic are far from over.

Druckman is a member of a university consortium called The COVID States Project, which includes researchers from Northwestern, Northeastern, Harvard and Rutgers.  The researchers surveyed more than 185,000 individuals across all 50 states to understand the impact the pandemic has had on social isolation and depression rates in the U.S.

For individuals making less than $25,000 a year, Druckman and his team found that social isolation had not improved from April 2020 to June 2021. By contrast, individuals with a yearly income of $150,000 or more reported some of the lowest social isolation levels over the course of the pandemic.

“Those with more resources are feeling less isolated which, in turn, could enable them to be more productive,” Druckman said. “The fear is this could exacerbate inequalities further. It makes the necessity of post-pandemic assistance clear.”

James Druckman

The survey also found that there is a strong association between social isolation and moderate to severe depressive symptoms.

Read more about Druckman’s research in Northwestern Now. Read the full report here.