Household Spending Patterns and Hardships during COVID-19: A Comparative Study of the U.S. and Israel

Abstract

The combined supply and demand shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic have created the largest consumer behavior shift in recent history, while exposing millions of households to material hardships like food insecurity and housing instability. In this study, we draw on national surveys conducted early in the pandemic to investigate the pandemic's effects on selfreported consumer spending behaviors and experiences of hardship for households in the US and Israel; two countries that are similar in terms of their development but have had divergent experiences with and responses to the pandemic. We also examine the extent to which racial/ethnic/religious minority status and pre-pandemic employment characteristics predict these outcomes. Using descriptive and logistic regression approaches, we find that housing expenditures were fairly stable in the U.S. and Israel, while food and credit card payment expenditures were relatively volatile. We also find that skipped utility bill payments were much higher in the US than Israel, while rates of skipping housing payments and food insecurity were similar between the two countries. Generally speaking, racial/ethnic/religious minorities in both countries were more likely to experience spending volatility, while Black and Hispanic (in the US) and Arab (in Israel) households were more likely to experience hardships. Employment and financial characteristics also appeared much more predictive of hardship in the US than in Israel.

The Social and Economic Impact of Covid-19 on Family Functioning and Well-Being: Where do we go from here?

“…Despite its global reach, countries had different experiences with and different response to the pandemic. Providing a national context for understanding the impact of the pandemic, Roll et al ( 2022 ) conducted a comparative analysis of household spending and hardship in the US (collected April-May 2020) and Israel (collected June-July 2020). The researchers found several similarities between the countries, including stable housing expenditures but more volatile food and credit card payment expenditures.…”

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Consumption Behavior: Based on the Perspective of Accounting Data of Chinese Food Enterprises and Economic Theory

“…The pandemic, and the restrictive measures taken to control the pandemic, have often led to uncertainty in demand and supply disruptions, which have ultimately affected product prices and household food consumption. In addition, containment measures such as isolation, maintaining social distancing, closing businesses, and closing borders have led to a sharp decline in economic activity, affecting household income and consumer behavior [ 16 , 17 ], which is once again reflected in household expenditures. Although food is a basic necessity, nevertheless, food consumption is not immune to this type of crisis.…”

A Demand Systems Approach to Understanding Medium‐Term Post‐Pandemic Consumption Trends

“…In the United States, Roll et al . (2022) noted less dramatic effects in overall spending (9.6 per cent), where there was a shift away from goods and services (−7.7 per cent) towards durables (+6.7 per cent). Other studies reported that households also grew their savings over this period.…”