The COVID-19 pandemic has left people reeling world-wide. Many have lost jobs; others are furloughed indefinitely and still others are working from home while homeschooling children and/or caring for sick relatives.

But in the midst of this global pandemic, a majority of Americans became more motivated to save for their future according to a new survey of hourly workers conducted by DailyPay, Funding our Future and Edelman Financial Engines who collaborated on this survey. In fact, 51% of those polled said they are more likely to save for the future as opposed to 15% who stated they were less likely to save.

The pandemic illustrated how ill-prepared many Americans were in terms of their financial security and their ability to weather the crisis. Not only did the pandemic wreak havoc on people’s physical and mental health, job security and day-to-day living conditions, but it also had a significant impact on their financial health as well. In fact, 40% of respondents said they are worse off since the pandemic shut down most of the American economy in March. In addition, 50% of those polled say they are either “finding it difficult to get by” or are “just getting by.” Another 40% report they are having difficulty paying bills each month.

For those who had some savings, 57% had to dip into those savings to address the economic strains brought on by COVID-19. The commitment to save more, which was reflected in the survey, might help to soften the financial blow when, and if, the next crisis comes our way.

We all know that saving money is hard, especially during a global crisis. But this survey also found that 62% would save if there was an easier way to put money from their paycheck aside.

DailyPay has a SAVE experience that is part of the DailyPay PayEXTM platform that allows employees to do just that. Employees can save for free, in their own interest-bearing accounts, in three different ways, before payday. This makes it easy for them to get on board with saving for all sorts of things, other than the next crisis.

While the pandemic itself has wreaked havoc with so many people’s lives, the silver lining is the fact that it has also made so many people realize that they need to begin a savings program. Having money in savings to lean on when a crisis, or any emergency hits provides employees with a greater degree of financial stability that has previously been lacking. And financial stability and wellness has proven to ease anxiety as we all look forward to a brighter future.