News Number of the Day Number of the Day Shows Surprising Impact of Face Masks Our take on the most relevant or interesting figure in personal finance today By Halley Bondy Halley Bondy Website Halley Bondy is a freelance journalist covering personal finance and a variety of small business topics for The Balance and outlets including NBC Know Your Value and Business Insider. She is an expert in startups, entrepreneurship, business financing, the U.S. economy, and investing. You can find her articles in NBC News, Business Insider, Lifewire News, Daily Beast, DAME Magazine, Eater NY, Bustle, Romper, The Outline, Oxygen, CMT, Vice, New York Daily News, MTV, and more learn about our editorial policies Updated on November 10, 2020 That’s how many percentage points consumer spending increases when facial mask mandates are implemented at businesses, according to a new study. Not only do consumers want to see employees wearing masks in order to feel safe, but mask mandates tend to reduce social distancing (perhaps due to a feeling of safety,) which magnifies the positive effect on spending, a study released this month by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis showed. Non-essential businesses in sectors such as clothing, arts, and recreation benefit the most from mask mandates, the study said. “Mask policies are strongly pro-business,” the researchers wrote. Their analysis assessed a variety of data sources, including cellphone GPS location information, credit and debit card purchases, county-level facial mask mandate information, and Census data, among others. Note: Consumer spending helped drive a record 33.1% expansion in third-quarter GDP after pandemic lockdowns in the second quarter fueled a staggering contraction. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Washington University in St. Louis. "The Impact of Social Distancing and Masking on COVID-19 Spread and Consumer Spending." Accessed Nov. 10, 2020.