Unemployment and child health during COVID-19 in the USA
Zachary Parolin
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to high rates of unemployment across advanced economies.1Holzer HJ The COVID-19 crisis: how do U.S. employment and health outcomes compare to other OECD countries?.https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-covid-19-crisis-how-do-u-s-economic-and-health-outcomes-compare-to-other-oecd-countries/#cancelDate: June 2, 2020Date accessed: September 11, 2020Google Scholar The burdens associated with unemployment, however, have not hit all households equally. Families with children and unemployed parents have reported especially high rates of hardship, with potential long-term consequences for child wellbeing and development. The increase of parental unemployment in the USA necessitates greater attention towards these potential consequences. First, the share of children with an unemployed parent (defined as jobless and looking for work) has reached historic highs in the USA, since the onset of the pandemic. In April, 2020, 21·7% of children had at least one unemployed parent, the highest rate observed since at least 1967.2Flood S King M Rodgers R Ruggles S Warren JR Integrated public use microdata series, Current Population Survey: version 7.0 [dataset]. IPUMS, Minneapolis, MN2020https://doi.org/10.18128/D030.V7.0Google Scholar By July, 2020, the share of children with an unemployed parent had dropped to 14·3%, which is still higher than the peak of 13·2% during the Great Recession in 2010. Mothers have been hit hardest; the share of children with an unemployed mother reached 18·8% in April, 2020, again the highest rate since at least 1967.2Flood S King M Rodgers R Ruggles S Warren JR Integrated public use microdata series, Current Population Survey: version 7.0 [dataset]. IPUMS, Minneapolis, MN2020https://doi.org/10.18128/D030.V7.0Google Scholar The data also reveal that care responsibilities are driving down employment rates, in particular for mothers. Among all mothers between the ages of 25 and 44 who lost a job after the onset of the pandemic, 30% report care responsibilities as their primary reason for not being employed, as of July, 2020.3US Census BureauHousehold Pulse Survey data tables, phase 1.https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/household-pulse-survey/data.html#phase1Date: July, 2020Date accessed: September 11, 2020Google Scholar, 4Heggeness ML Fields JM Working moms bear brunt of home schooling while working during COVID-19.https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/08/parents-juggle-work-and-child-care-during-pandemic.htmlDate: Aug 18, 2020Date accessed: September 11, 2020Google Scholar Among fathers of a similar age, the rate who attribute their unemployment to care responsibilities is 15%. For mothers with children experiencing distance learning, the share reporting care responsibilities as their primary reason for unemployment is even higher (36%) than for mothers whose children are attending school in person (29%). This pattern suggests that school closures have increased the care burden for parents and for mothers, in particular. The absence of employment, in itself, need not spell trouble for families. But, when joblessness is coupled with an inadequate welfare state and little support for domestic caregivers, unemployment can quickly translate into elevated rates of hardship. Indeed, evidence from the US Census Pulse Survey for July, 2020, shows that unemployed mothers with children report high rates of food insufficiency (24%), skipped or delayed medical appointments (47%), and frequent anxiety (46%). These findings can have direct consequences for child development.5Isaacs J Unemployment from a child's perspective.https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/23131/1001671-Unemployment-from-a-Child-s-Perspective.PDFDate: March, 2013Date accessed: September 11, 2020Google Scholar Evidence shows that reduced economic resources and elevated stress affect children's academic achievement and behaviour.6Stevens AH Schaller J Short-run effects of parental job loss on children's academic achievement.Econ Educ Rev. 2011; 30: 289-299Crossref Scopus (112) Google Scholar Moreover, long-term unemployment, lasting 6 months or more, can have particularly deleterious consequences for a family's poverty status and a child's physical wellbeing.7Coelli MB 2020. Parental job loss and the education enrollment of youth.Labour Econ. 2011; 18: 25-35Crossref Scopus (77) Google Scholar In turn, children who experience longer durations of poverty or more income volatility, or both, are less likely to attain a college degree.8Duncan GJ Brooks-Gunn J Consequences of growing up poor. Russell Sage Foundation, New York1997Google Scholar They are also more likely to be unemployed themselves in young adulthood or, if employed, to earn a lower wage.9Mayer SE What money can't buy: family income and children's life chances. Harvard University Press, London1998Google Scholar Even among families who are eventually able to recoup their lost earnings, repeated swings of income volatility can still have negative consequences on a child's wellbeing.10Hardy BL Childhood income volatility and adult outcomes.Demography. 2014; 51: 1641-1665Crossref Scopus (49) Google Scholar Policy makers have an opportunity to blunt this rise in hardship and the associated long-term costs for children. First, legislators should ensure ample income support for families with children, at least throughout the duration of the pandemic. The USA is one of few high-income countries without a child allowance, leaving millions of families without any direct income support from the government. Second, policy makers should place heavy emphasis on providing a safe return to school for children. Until children can safely return to school, parents will face an increased care burden, which, when coupled with inadequate income support, will further contribute to rising poverty and hardship. The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the costs of not rewarding domestic care work and not offering US families with children a source of unconditional income support. Without urgent action, children might reap the consequences of the current crisis for decades to come. I declare no competing interests.