Two-thirds of Americans expect presidential election will be disrupted by COVID-19

With just over six months until Election Day, two-thirds of Americans – including 80% of Democrats and half of Republicans – say it is very or somewhat likely that the coronavirus outbreak will significantly disrupt people’s ability to vote in the presidential election. Seven-in-ten favor allowing any voter to vote by mail if they want to, including 44% who strongly support this policy.

• An update on how Pew Research Center is covering COVID-19

Worldwide optimism about future of gender equality, even as many see advantages for men

While people around the world embrace the idea of gender equality, at least four-in-ten think men generally have more opportunities than women in their country when it comes to getting high-paying jobs and being leaders in their community. A median of 40% across 34 countries surveyed think men should have more right to a job than women when jobs are scarce, but a majority (56%) disagree with this notion.

• The coronavirus pandemic’s impact on Pew Research Center’s global polling

53% of Americans say the internet has been essential during the COVID-19 outbreak

Roughly half of U.S. adults say the internet has been essential for them personally during the pandemic, while another 34% describe it as “important, but not essential.” Amid rekindled debates about the digital divide, more than six-in-ten Americans say it is not the federal government’s responsibility to ensure that all Americans have cellphone services or a high-speed internet connection at home during the outbreak.

• From virtual parties to ordering food, how Americans are using the internet during COVID-19

About seven-in-ten U.S. adults say they need to take breaks from COVID-19 news

A majority of Americans say they need to take breaks from news about the coronavirus outbreak. Many say this news makes them feel worse emotionally. In addition, half say they find it difficult to sift through what is true and what is not. Americans are focusing attention on both national and local news related to the pandemic: 61% say they pay about equal attention to news at both levels.

• Explore COVID-19 data in our interactive tool
• Some claims about ways to fight COVID-19 reach more Americans than others

Most Americans say COVID-19 has changed news reporting, but many are unsure how it’s affected the industry

About seven-in-ten U.S. adults say journalists have had to change the way they report as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, only around a third say the virus has hurt news organizations financially, despite reports of the economic toll the outbreak has taken on the industry.

• 10 charts about America’s newsrooms
• For World Press Freedom Day, 5 charts on global views of press freedom

Most states have religious exemptions to COVID-19 social distancing rules

Most states have carved out exemptions for religious gatherings in their stay-at-home orders or other directives. Only 10 states are preventing in-person religious gatherings in any form.

• Few Americans say their house of worship is open, but a quarter say their religious faith has grown amid pandemic

Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America’s largest generation

Coronavirus downturn likely to add to high government debt in some countries

Few U.S. sermons mention abortion, though discussion varies by religious affiliation and congregation size

The challenges of using real-time epidemiological data in a public health crisis

From our research