COVID-19 IMPACT SURVEY

The year 2020 was tough for many Greater Fredericksburg region residents.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, requests for financial assistance from Rappahannock United Way have more than tripled – many of them from households who are normally financially stable requesting help with bills, childcare and housing costs for the first time.

In order to assess the true impact of COVID-19 on local households, Rappahannock United Way launched an online survey to hear from local households how they have been directly impacted.

From January 25 to February 12, 2021, over 1,100 people living in the Greater Fredericksburg Region of Virginia responded to the survey, which included the City of Fredericksburg and Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania, and Stafford counties.

The results of this survey provide important insights into the issues households in this area are facing during this time of profound uncertainty.

When COVID-19 hit, 35% of all households in the Greater Fredericksburg Region (approximately 44,000 households) were already struggling to make ends meet — a 10-year record high — setting the stage for the unprecedented economic impact of the pandemic. This includes households below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and households who are ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. With income above the FPL, ALICE households earn too much to qualify as “poor” but are still unable to cover the basics of housing, child care, food, transportation, healthcare, and technology in the counties where they live.  Of all survey respondents, 588 (48%) had income below the ALICE Threshold, which includes both households below the FPL and ALICE households.