Fewer than half of Americans social distanced in the last week — the first time the percent has gone below 50% since the Axios-Ipsos poll began. The new poll data finds that 44% of Americans social distanced last week, down 12 percentage points from two weeks ago.
The poll, published Tuesday, was conducted May 21 to 24 and made up of a nationally representative sample of 1,102 US adults.
Those over the age of 50 and the vaccinated are the groups where some of the biggest changes are taking place in, but “regardless of gender, region of the country, partisanship, or race, people are socially distancing less than before.”
This is happening at the same time as 45% of Americans are wearing masks whenever they leave their home, down from 58% two weeks ago.
The change in mask wearing is driven by the decreasing numbers of vaccinated Americans masking at all times; the percent has dropped “dramatically,” Ipsos said, going from 65% two weeks ago to 47% now.
Here are some more key findings:
- On getting out of the house: Americans are also doing more outside the home: 63% visited friends or family in the last week and 58% have gone out to eat, four point increases from two weeks ago and 10 point increases from mid-April for both.
- On going back to work: Returning to the office is one thing that hasn’t changed. One in three employed respondents said they worked from home or remotely, a number which has remained relatively constant this year and for much of late 2020.
- On what risky means: The percent of Americans who view their pre-coronavirus lifestyle as risky continues to drop; 38% saying it’s a large or moderate risk, down from 43% two weeks ago and 52% last month. Some activities are viewed as less risky, for example 22% say that attending in-person gatherings outside the home with family and friends poses no risk, which is up from 17% two weeks ago. However, there are activities that are still seen as risky, 58% say traveling on a plane poses a large or moderate risk, but this is down from 68% just over a month ago. Indoor concerts and going to a bar or nightclub are still seen as a large/moderate risk by 62% and 64% of respondents respectively.
- On the new mask guidance: The large majority of respondents – 96% — said that they had at least heard of updated guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention around masking and social distancing, and 82% said they were very or somewhat familiar with it. While most people – 69% — said that guidelines were clear, there were differences in how clear. Exactly half – 50% — said it was “somewhat clear” compared with only 19% who said it was “very clear.” Trust in the CDC to provide accurate Covid-19 information remains high and unchanged, with 66% of respondents saying they trusted the agency.
