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1. Americans are now evenly split on whether they’re financially better or worse off than they were before the pandemic.
Now, more than six years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, CivicScience tracking data on its long-term economic impacts reveal a significant divide in the American experience. As of late April 2026, one in three U.S. adults reports they are doing ‘better’ than they were before the pandemic, with this percentage trending up since 2022. However, an equal share reports that they are doing ‘worse’ now, with no change from last year. Younger Americans and Republicans are more likely to report a financial improvement compared to older Americans, Democrats, and independents.
2. Nearly 2 in 5 U.S. adult respondents say they would be likely to use a third-party delivery app service to make prepaid package returns, following Uber Eats’ example.
Uber recently launched a feature that allows customers to return purchases made through Uber Eats directly in the Uber Eats app, without leaving home. The broad concept of using services like this to make returns from home appears to be popular with a notable share of consumers. According to new CivicScience data, 39% of respondents say they would be at least ‘somewhat’ likely to use, for example, a $5 courier service for prepaid returns (excluding does not apply). Most notably, this type of program shows significant product-market fit among consumers who are currently shopping online more often than usual; an impressive 68% say they would be somewhat or very likely to take advantage of such a service.
Let Us Know: How often do you return purchases?
3. Just over half of U.S. adults say they watch media specifically to root against or criticize a particular individual, program, or team at least some of the time.
Critical consumption—colloquially known as “hate-watching”—appears to play a major role in modern media engagement. CivicScience data show that more than 52% of U.S. adults report regularly watching media solely to root against, mock, or criticize a particular individual, program, team, or viewpoint. As many as one in five are ‘very’ frequent “hate-watchers.”
While Gen Z adults are the most likely to engage in this practice overall, Millennials are the most likely to report doing so ‘very’ frequently. The practice is far more common among sports fans, with NBA and NHL fans most likely to watch games specifically to root against a particular team.
Take Our Poll: How often do you hate-watch (watch teams specifically to root against them) sports teams?
