Children and families were severely affected by the pandemic. The disruption in school days and child care services impacted many households. In addition, many families were unable to find and keep jobs. This meant fewer opportunities to advance in the workplace and gain experience, education, and training. Moreover, many families had to juggle childcare with work.
Child Care Disruptions
Child care disruptions have affected the lives of many families, particularly those with young children. These families have suffered in various ways, from losing pay to scaling back their careers. For instance, according to Priority Plus Financial, some families have even taken unpaid leave or cut their work hours to avoid taking care of children. This has particularly adversely affected households of color and those headed by women.
The pandemic has also hit the labor market hard. In March 2020, it caused a pronounced decline in employment and work hours, resulting in huge wage reductions. These disruptions also stalled career advancement for many workers. In addition, many childcare providers have closed.
School Closures
One of the unintended consequences of a pandemic is school closures. These closures can negatively affect children in a variety of ways. For example, they can change the quality of their peers’ interactions and make them less likely to succeed in school. They can also negatively affect the psychological well-being of children. In addition, school closures result in a loss of wages and productivity, burdening healthcare systems. Childcare workers cannot easily attend work when school is closed, thereby hampering their ability to provide quality care to children. In addition, school closures can result in a strain on local schools, which often must take on more children.
Rent Hardships
Children and households suffering from the pandemic are experiencing increased hardship and insecurity. Since the pandemic began, households with children reported the highest difficulty paying usual household expenses and food insufficiency. In addition, children and households experiencing greater challenges in paying rent and mortgages have higher food insecurity rates than those without children.
As a result, many local and state governments have enacted emergency rental assistance programs. However, the demand has far exceeded the available resources. Furthermore, many rental assistance programs require a substantial amount of documentation of the financial hardship suffered by the household.
Women’s Employment During The Pandemic
Gender-based employment segregation limits women’s choices in certain sectors, causing wage, job quality, and employment trajectory disparities. Both supply and demand-side factors cause this. These include gender gaps, recruitment bias, and workplace culture. The pandemic’s negative impact on women’s employment should spur strong policy responses. These policies should promote affordable childcare, unemployment assistance, low-income family assistance, paid family leave, and worker education.
Impact Of Low SES On Families With School-Aged Children
Research has shown that children in low-SES families face various challenges in the classroom. For example, they may not turn in their homework on time or have trouble remembering where they must catch the bus home. In addition, they may display behavioral problems. When this happens, school personnel may assume that the child is lazy or has a disability.
Parents in low-SES households reported greater physical and emotional distress than their high-SES peers. While the relationship was not statistically significant, it suggests that children in low-SES households were more likely to experience distress due to various health and safety factors. This finding reinforces previous research that shows family relationships are important to children during periods of stress and major life events.
Originally posted 2022-10-04 09:18:43.