Impact of the 2020 pandemic of COVID-19 on Families with School-aged Children in the United States: Roles of Income Level and Race (2024)

Abstract

This study examined the experiences of families with school-aged children duringthe first three months of the 2020 pandemic of COVID-19 in the United States,while focusing on the roles of income level and race/ethnicity in theirexperiences. Two hundred and twenty-three parents of school-aged childrenparticipated in this study by completing an online survey. The results revealedthat low-income and lower-middle class parents, as well as parents of color,experienced more instrumental and financial hardships due to the pandemic, whencompared to their higher income, White counterparts. In contrast, parents withhigher income and White parents were more likely to feel stressed overstructuring home learning environments and planning educational and physicalactivities at home for their children. The overall findings suggest that familyincome level and race/ethnicity play a significant role in the lives of familiescoping with a variety of challenges due to the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, school closure, work & family, parenting

On March 13, 2020, the United States declared a national emergency over the outbreak ofCoronavirus Disease (COVID-19) as the novel, highly transmissible Coronavirus(SARS-CoV-2) started rapidly spreading across the country. Due to the nature of thevirus, by the end of March 2020, more than half of the U.S. population was ordered tostay home under shelter-in-place orders issued by many states and cities across thecounty in an attempt to minimize close contact between people in order to reduce thespread of the virus. As a result, more than 124,000 schools in the United States wereclosed, affecting at least 55 million students (Education Week, 2020). Although somecities/states gradually lifted their shelter-in-place orders and prepared for reopeningin phases in late May or early June of 2020, the majority of schools remained closed forthe rest of the 2019–2020 school year.

A pandemic outbreak can have a pervasive impact on social order and the economy (Qui et al., 2016–2017). Forinstance, schooling and the economy were significantly disrupted during the Ebolapandemic in 2013 and 2015 in West Africa in order to contain the virus ().During the H1N1 outbreak in 2009, large scale school dismissals/closures were found tolead to a greater reduction rate of infected cases (German et al., 2019). Araz et al. (2013) found thatpreventive closing was best to decrease unnecessary infection; however, it is importantto consider issues of distance learning, school meals, and dealing with pandemic waves.With the United States being the hardest-hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic in termsof numbers of COVID-19 infected cases and deaths (Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, 2020),many families with school-aged children experience various challenges due to theoutbreak and subsequent lockdowns and life disruptions.

In addition to worries and anxieties related to the COVID-19 outbreak, the economicsituation has suddenly worsened with unprecedented rising levels of unemployment in thefirst three months of COVID-19 in the U.S. (Kochhar, 2018), resulting in financial hardshipfor many families. Moreover, external support by other family members may be disruptedand social support systems may fade away due to social distancing measures. Manyparents, while working from home, have to take care of their children with restrictedcaregiver resources (e.g., grandparents, daycare settings), as well as support theirchildren’s education through home schooling or remote learning provided by their schools(Fegert et al., 2020).This has suddenly created a lot of challenges and put a lot of pressure on parents ofschooling children. This study explored the consequences and problems associated withthe COVID-19 outbreak as experienced by families with school-aged children during theacute phase of COVID-19 in the U.S.

Past research has suggested that a pandemic may affect different demographicsdifferently, leading to social, economic, and health disparities (Kumar et al., 2012). As times of crisis oftenreinforce and exacerbate these disparities because resources are limited and people arefearful, traditionally minoritized and marginalized populations (e.g., racial/ethnicminorities, low-income families, women) may encounter more challenges (Kantamneni, 2020). As part ofthe long history of racial bias and discrimination in the U.S., national disasters andcrises have often become racialized and scapegoated minority groups are targeted andblamed (Chen et al., 2020).Evidently, racial discrimination against Asians and Asian Americans has increasedsignificantly since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the U.S. (e.g., Chen et al., 2020; ).According to a Pew Research Center survey, Black and Asian Americans have shared theexperiences of racial discrimination amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately 40% ofBlack and Asian Americans reported that since the COVID-19 outbreak people have acted asif they were uncomfortable around them due to their race or ethnicity (Ruiz et al., 2020).

Recent data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2020a) indicated that COVID-19 diseaseburden, including acquisition of illness, hospitalization, and mortality, isdisproportionately higher among racial and ethnic groups (e.g., Black/African American,Latinx, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian American). Persistent systemicinequities, such as structural racism and discrimination, overcrowded housing,occupational segregation, and inadequate health access and utilization, play a largerole in contributing to disparities in health outcomes among minoritized populations(cited in Brown et al., 2020;CDC, 2020b). Evidence hassuggested that Black and Hispanic workers face much more economic and health insecurityas a result of the COVID-19 outbreak than White workers (). Being that racialand ethnic minority groups (e.g., Black and Latino people) are overrepresented inlow-wage jobs and in jobs that cannot transition to remote work, they have been hit thehardest by stay-at home and other public health measures that put in place to controlthe spread of the virus. Recent data suggest that people of color and low-incomefamilies, when compared to their White and higher-income counterparts, have beenaffected much more by spiking unemployment and job insecurity (), as well as increasedhousing instability (Greens & McCargo, 2020), since the COVID-19 outbreak. Theseeconomic and social inequities may in turn place minoritized families at greater riskfor increased stress and disparate outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

School closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak have added extra challenges for parents ofschooling children. Moreover, prolonged school closures can further exacerbatepreexisting educational disparities. Reports have shown that lower-income parents aremore concerned about their children potentially falling behind amid COVID-19 schoolclosures than higher-income parents (Horowitz, 2020). While many schools have abruptly adopted remote learning tocontinue students’ schooling in response to the outbreak, students from lower-incomehouseholds experience a “digital gap” due to the lack of reliable access to the Internetand other digital resources (e.g., computers) at home, potentially affecting theirlearning. Data reported by Pew Research Center further suggest that the digital gaps areparticularly notable in Black and Hispanic households of low incomes (),suggesting race and family income contribute to the complexity of widening educationalinequities as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to Prime et al.’s(2020) conceptual framework, the impact of social disruption due to COVID-19(e.g., job loss, financial hardship, social distancing, confinement) needs to beconsidered in the context of preexisting vulnerabilities in families (e.g., racism andmarginalization, economic hardship, history of adversity). Although the current strainof the COVID-19 outbreak is unprecedented and affects all people globally, the impact ofthe virus can be rooted in historic and persistent social, economic, and educationaldisparities, resulting in greater vulnerabilities and difficulties in people of colorand low-income families. This study further examined the roles of income level andrace/ethnicity in families’ experiences coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing onthose with school-aged children. We expected to observe greater social, economic, andeducational challenges and problems experienced by families of color and low-incomehouseholds.

Method

Results

Discussion

As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to be a global concern when this manuscript wasbeing prepared in June 2020, the results of this study reflected the impact of thepandemic on families with school-aged children within the first three months of arapid outbreak in the United States. Although the COVID-19 virus itself is supposedto be nondiscriminatory, our findings revealed inequitable consequences of thepandemic for low-income families and families of color. We observed that parents oflow-income and lower-middle class households (≤US$50,000), as well as parents ofcolor, experienced more adverse instrumental and financial hardships, such asreduced pay or income, furlough, and job loss or potential job loss. The findingsare consistent with a recent report from the U.S. Department of Labor revealing thatthe historical layoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic took the biggest toll ontraditionally minoritized groups, including women, Blacks, Latinos, and thelow-income workers (cited in Jones, 2020). In addition, we observed that low-income and lower-middleclass parents, as well as parents of color, were less likely to have the privilegeto work remotely from home, increasing their risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus.A recent study (Hawkins,2020) suggested that people of color are more vulnerable to COVID-19infection due to the nature of their occupation and employment, as they are morelikely to be considered “essential” or “frontline” workers in occupations with moreexposure to infections and close proximity to others (e.g., food service, cleaningand building maintenance, retail and hospitality, warehouse work, public transitwork, etc.).

The COVID-19 pandemic forced an unprecedented, massive school closure across theUnited States in the Spring of 2020. The majority of PreK–12 students across racesand income levels continued their education through long-distance learning (e.g.,web-based instructional methods, video conferencing, etc.) provided by theirschools. However, we observed that students from low-income and lower-middle classhouseholds, compared to those from upper-middle and high-income families, appearedto have a lower rate of engagement in long-distance learning through school. Lack ofresources, such as computers and Internet accessibility and stability, might havepartially prevented students in low-income and lower-middle households from engagingin long-distance learning. To ensure equitable educational opportunities, schoolsneed to further assess the barriers for students from low-income households toengage in long-distance learning and to provide needed equipment and support forthem.

In addition, school meal programs are essential to many American families. Weobserved that low-income and lower-middle class families were more likely to beaffected by their children missing free and reduced-price school meals due to thepandemic, when compared to higher income families. Communities and school need towork collaboratively to provide meals to students in need during school closuresthrough different practices (e.g., curbside grab-and-go, delivery routes, mobilefood pantries, etc.).

While students stayed home due to school closures in response to the pandemic, weobserved that about one-third of families did not have a clear structure andschedule at home to support their children’s learning. Particularly, moremiddle-class parents appeared to struggle to create and maintain a clear structureand routines at home. It is possible that middle-class parents were cognizant of theimportance of having a clear structure and routines at home but did not have themeans for implementation. Schools may provide support through consultation to helpparents design and implement customized structure and schedule plans for theirchildren, while taking account of family structure, parent’s work schedule, and lifecirc*mstances.

Even though low-income and lower-middle class parents, as well as parents of color,experienced more instrumental and economic challenges, we observed that upper-middleand high-income parents were more likely to report that school closure had been amajor problem for them. Particularly, parents of higher incomes and White parentswere more likely to feel stressed over structuring home learning environments, andplanning educational and physical activities at home for their children. The gap ismost significant between parents of upper-middle and high-income class and those oflow-income and lower-middle class. It is possible that upper-middle and high-incomeparents were more likely to work from home during the pandemic than low-income andlower-middle class parents; therefore, their immediate exposure to and associationwith their children’s learning at home resulted in additional responsibilities andperceived stress. It is also possible that low-income and lower-middle class parentswere more likely to be overwhelmed by immediate financial challenges. They were moreconcerned about their family’s basic needs, such as food, clothes, and shelter, thanstructuring their children’s days and planning educational and physical activitiesat home for their children. Schools can play a pivotal role in providing neededpsychological and instrumental support based on families’ specific needs.

This study has some limitations. Because of the cross-sectional nature of thisobservational study, causation can never be exactly known. It is possible that theracial and income differences observed in this study might be partially attributedto other social and political events and conflicts (e.g., police brutality, racism,Black Lives Matter Movement) that were simultaneously occurring in the U.S. in theera of the COVID-19 pandemic (Thomeer et al., 2020). More research is needed to understand thecomplexity of the dynamic interplay of social, political, and economic factors infamilies’ lives during a pandemic. The majority of the participants were Whitefemales from higher income clusters. Parents from low-income and middle classes weredisproportionately underrepresented in the sample. Although participants resided in26 states in the United States, more than half majority were from New York State.Our online recruitment efforts might not reach families that had zero or limitedaccess to the Internet or the sites where our online messages were posted.Therefore, the sample might not represent the entire U.S. population. However, wedid not intend to conduct this study as a population research to understand theoverall impact of the COVID-19 on families, but to focus on the roles of incomelevel and race/ethnicity in the experiences of families with school-aged childrenduring the pandemic. Our findings highlight the importance of evaluating theinstrumental and psychosocial impact of the pandemic on families. Moreover, as weobserved inequitable outcomes of the pandemic for low-income and racially minorityfamilies, schools and communities should further assess and address the specificchallenges and difficulties facing diverse families in order to provide neededsupport for them.

Footnotes

References