4 in 10 people missed work due to omicron surge, survey finds

(CNN) - Concerns about COVID-19 caused more than 40% of workers to miss work amid the omicron surge, and it had some negative repercussions on their families.

That’s according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey involving about 1,500 adults.

Survey results showed low-income workers were even more likely to report missing work due to omicron. About six in 10 low-income workers said they had to call out sick – and less than a third said they got paid sick leave.

Nearly 30% of low-income workers said they went to work with COVID symptoms or after being exposed because they couldn’t afford to take time off.

More than a quarter of parents said they had to miss work because they had a child in quarantine or online learning.

Missing work had negative effects at home, especially on low-income workers. A quarter of them who had to miss work due to COVID said it had a “major impact” on the family stress level and finances.