Minnesota's Diverse Communities: Impacts of COVID-19 and attitudes toward vaccine

by KRISTINE LIAO | August 20, 2021

It’s no longer news that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted some Americans over others. Our Color of Coronavirus analysis, for instance, shows that Black, Indigenous, Latino and Pacific Islander Americans are all at least two times more likely to die of the virus than are White and Asian Americans when adjusted for age. But mortality rates are not the only place these disparities can be found.

On behalf of the APM Research Lab, SSRS of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania conducted the Minnesota’s Diverse Communities survey from April 26 to June 14, 2021—about five months into the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign. Among other topics, the survey asked Minnesotans about how the pandemic has impacted their financial situation and mental health, as well as their attitudes toward the vaccine.

After analyzing the survey results by race and ethnicity, political affiliation, immigrant status and more, the APM Research Lab has compiled the key findings and detailed them below.

How the pandemic has impacted Minnesotans’ personal financial situations

Roughly one-fifth of Minnesotans said their personal financial situation has worsened since the pandemic began while a roughly equal amount said it has gotten better. But when looking at the results broken down by demographics, there are clear distinctions.

Perhaps the most notable disparity is the pandemic’s economic toll on lower-income Minnesotans compared to others: 38% of Minnesotans with household incomes under $40,000 said their financial situation has worsened compared to only 10% of those with incomes of $100,000 or more.

The pandemic’s economic impact also varies greatly by race and ethnicity. BIPOC groups including Hmong, Black, Indigenous and Latinx Minnesotans are more likely to have had their financial situation worsen compared to White and Asian, excluding Hmong, Minnesotans. (BIPOC stands for black, indigenous and other people of color.) When looking at breakdowns by gender in addition to race, Latinx Minnesotans stand out: In this ethnic group, women (37%) are nearly twice as likely as men (19%) to say their financial situation has worsened.

Besides income and race, several other demographic characteristics also appear to be related to financial stability in the wake of the pandemic:

• More than one-third of Minnesotans aged 18-29 responded that they are in a worse financial situation compared to 11% of respondents in the 65+ age group who said the same.

• College graduates (28%) are more likely to be in a better financial situation than Minnesotans who finished some college (20%), and significantly more likely than those who graduated high school or less (9%).

• Nearly one-quarter of Twin Cities area residents are in a better financial situation compared to 14% of respondents from Greater Minnesota.

How the pandemic has impacted Minnesotans’ mental health

Although a majority of Minnesotans (64%) reported that their mental health has stayed the same since before the pandemic began, about four times as many Minnesotans said their mental health worsened (29%) as Minnesotans who said it improved (7%).

When examining the responses across racial and ethnic groups, perhaps most striking is the relative consistency in the proportions that indicated deteriorating mental health: About 3 in 10 from each group said their mental health has worsened over the course of the pandemic. The proportions that indicated improving mental health, however, show clear differences among racial and ethnic groups: Black (14%) and Asian (12%) Minnesotans are most likely to have better mental health, while Latinx (8%), White (6%) and Indigenous (5%) Minnesotans have much lower rates.

Gender breakdowns also reveal stark disparities: BIPOC women (36%) are significantly more likely to have experienced deteriorating mental health during the pandemic compared to BIPOC men (25%). In particular, 47% of Black women said their mental health has worsened since before the pandemic began—more than double the percentage of Black men (22%).

Other than race and gender, demographic characteristics related to residence, immigrant and family status also appear to be related to the state of mental health in the wake of the pandemic:

• One-third of Twin Cities residents indicated that their mental health has worsened since the start of the pandemic compared to one-quarter of those residing in Greater Minnesota.

• Immigrants (19%) are more likely than non-immigrants (6%) to have had their mental health improve over the course of the pandemic.

• A somewhat higher proportion of Minnesotans without children at home (68%) said that their mental health has stayed the same over the course of the pandemic compared to those who have children in the home (56%).

Minnesotans’ willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19

Besides looking at the pandemic’s impact on financial and mental stability, the survey also collected data on Minnesotans’ willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly one-fifth of Minnesotans said they will “definitely not get it” or “get it only if required”—equivalent to 63% of unvaccinated Minnesotans at the time of the survey.

The differences are stark among racial and ethnic groups. White Minnesotans (15%) are more than twice as likely as BIPOC Minnesotans (7%) to “definitely not” get the vaccine. In fact, more than half of White Minnesotans who were unvaccinated at the time of the survey said they will “definitely not” get the vaccine. Compared to other BIPOC groups, Indigenous Minnesotans stand out with a relatively high proportion of 13% who responded that they will “definitely not” get the vaccine when it is available to them for free.

If those who responded that they would either get the vaccine “as soon as they can” or “wait and see how it’s working with others before getting it” were already vaccinated at the time of this report, Asian, excluding Hmong, Minnesotans (93%) would have the highest inoculation rate, followed by Hmong (91%), Black (85%) and Latinx (82%) Minnesotans. Indigenous Minnesotans (77%) would have the lowest inoculation rate among racial and ethnic groups, followed by White Minnesotans (79%).

Besides differences by race and ethnicity, several other demographic factors also seem to be related to Minnesotans’ willingness to get vaccinated:

• Nearly one-third of Republicans will “definitely not” get the vaccine—a proportion 10 times that of Democrats (3%) who responded the same way and equivalent to more than half of unvaccinated Republicans at the time of the survey.

• Those who did not graduate from college are significantly more likely than college graduates (7%) to “definitely not” get vaccinated. One-fifth of Minnesotans who finished some college will “definitely not” get the vaccine while 15% of Minnesotans who graduated from high school or less responded the same way.

• One-fifth of Minnesotans with a child at home will “definitely not” get vaccinated, compared to 11% of those with no child at home.

How Minnesotans feel about the state’s distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine

Eighty percent of Minnesotans think the state has done an “excellent” or “good” job of distributing COVID-19 vaccines. Despite this strong majority, there are some differences when looking into breakdowns by political affiliation as well as race and gender.

In terms of political affiliation, Democrats (87%) are significantly more likely to think Minnesota has done an “excellent” or “good” job of distributing vaccines than both Republicans (71%) and Independents (69%).

Among racial and ethnic groups, Indigenous Minnesotans (71%) are least likely to think the state has done an “excellent” or “good” job of distributing vaccines, with an approval rate significantly lower than that of White (80%) and Latinx (80%) Minnesotans. When broken down by race and gender, Black women (65%) have the lowest approval rate, significantly lower than that of Black men (81%).

Hmong Minnesotans (27%) are most likely among racial and ethnic groups to think the state has done a “fair” or “poor” job of distributing vaccines. When broken down by race and gender, Black (33%) and Hmong (31%) women have the highest percentages of disapproval, significantly higher than that of White women (17%).

How Minnesotans feel about the availability of information on COVID-19 over the past year

A strong majority of Minnesotans (86%) feel that they have had all the information they need about COVID-19 over the past 12 months, including information about potential risks, how to protect themselves and the COVID-19 vaccine.

While there are no significant differences among racial and ethnic groups, there are among other demographic breakdowns. In terms of political affiliation, Democrats (94%) are significantly more likely to believe they have had sufficient information about COVID-19 than both Republicans (76%) and Independents (73%). When looking at education level, college graduates (91%) are more likely to feel that they have had all the information they need about the virus than Minnesotans who graduated high school or less (84%) and those who finished some college (81%). Gender also appears to be related to degree of knowledge on COVID-19: Women (90%) are significantly more likely to believe they have had sufficient information about the virus than men (82%).

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