Science

Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, roughly six-in-ten U.S. workers who say their jobs can mainly be done from home (59%) are working from home all or most of the time.

Trust in scientists and medical scientists has fallen below pre-pandemic levels, with 29% of U.S. adults saying they have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists to act in the best interests of the public. This is down from 40% in November 2020 and 35% in January 2019, before COVID-19 emerged. Other prominent groups – including the military, police officers and public school principals – have also seen their ratings decline.

Americans are increasingly critical of the response to COVID-19 from elected officeholders and public health officials. Positive ratings of public health officials, such as those at the CDC, have fallen 10 points since August. And 60% of U.S. adults say they’ve felt confused as a result of changes to recommendations on how to slow the spread of COVID-19.

53% of parents of K-12 students say schools in the United States should be providing a mix of in-person and online instruction this winter.

Black men are now on par with American Indian or Alaska Native men as the demographic groups most likely to die from overdoses.

Public confidence in scientists has increased during the pandemic, though not among all Americans. We discuss the impact of trust on views of COVID-19 vaccines.

As 2021 draws to a close, here are some of Pew Research Center’s most striking research findings from the past year.

Nearly half of U.S. adults say the pandemic has driven people in their community apart. Many see a long road to recovery: About one-in-five say life in their community will never get back to the way it was before COVID-19.

Recent surveys have documented how people around the world view the issue of climate change and international responses.

82% of members of the historically Black Protestant tradition who attend church regularly have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.