Survey shows virus effect on food, rent

— More than 10% of U.S. households in a survey last week said they could not get enough of the food they needed some of the time or often, and almost a quarter of respondents said they will have difficulty paying their rent or mortgage or will defer payments, according to survey results released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Household Pulse Survey showed around 40% of respondents said last week they had delayed seeking medical care as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and a little under half of households surveyed last week had some loss of job-related income.

Almost 100% of respondents with kids in school had education plans disrupted by school closures, transitions to online learning or having parents teach at home. Adults with kids in schools spent 13 hours on average on teaching activities during the last seven days, according to the survey.

Wednesday’s release was the first for the experimental HouseholdPulseSurvey, which is an effort by the Census Bureau and five other federal agencies to capture the effect of the pandemic on households in almost real time. It will be updated weekly through the summer.

When it came to food scarcity, Mississippi led the nation with almost 20% of respondents reporting they had trouble getting the food they wanted or needed. North Dakota had the lowest rate at 5.4%.

More than half of respondents in Oregon reported delaying getting medical care.