Emerging Trends: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Families and Children

The impact of the Child Tax Credit

Temporary changes to the Child Tax Credit in 2021 increased access to the benefit for low-income families during the pandemic. These changes expired in December 2021.

• In 2021 the Child Tax Credit was temporarily made fully refundable, enabling the lowest-income families to receive the full value of the credit. Before this change, such families could not receive the full value of the credit, with Black and Hispanic families being the most likely to be eligible for only a limited credit.
• A second temporary change in 2021 allowed the credit to be paid monthly, rather than annually, as had previously been the case.
• Monthly payments of the Child Tax Credit in 2021 were correlated with reductions in food insecurity and reduced income volatility.

The Child Tax Credit has mitigated the experience of material hardship and helped families
maintain financial stability.

• Lower-income families were most likely to use the Child Tax Credit payments to meet basic needs (73%) such as food, housing, utilities, and telecommunications. More than half of families used the payments for unpaid bills and other essentials such as vehicle payments and childcare.
• Lower-income families that have been receiving the payments have experienced significantly less material hardship than those who have not received the payments.
• Child Tax Credit payments gave parents more flexibility to work, as funds provided needed assistance with childcare costs.

Following the expiration of the Child Tax Credit, 3.7 million more children were in poverty.

• Child poverty increased following the expiration of the monthly CTC payments from 12% in December 2021 to 17% in January 2022, the highest rate since the end of 2020.
• Latino and Black children experienced the largest increases in poverty (7.1 percentage points and 5.9 percentage points, respectively).

Download the complete report brief here.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Families

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected families in myriad ways. Further, those families already marginalized by our systems were hit the hardest by the pandemic, widening already present disparities. Social isolation, juggling changing routines and disruptions in continuity of school and childcare, limited access to health and mental health services, financial insecurity, and uncertainty for the future are among the challenges families have been experiencing.

Health

• Both exposure to and deaths from COVID-19 have had a disproportionally heavy toll on low-income families and families of color.
• Parents have experienced a worsening of chronic health problems and mental health conditions, difficulty sleeping, and increased use of tobacco, alcohol and other substances.
• Black and Latinx families experienced more food insecurity during pandemic.
  Financial Hardship
• Families faced income loss, job loss, financial difficulties, and material hardship as they made difficult choices regarding work, personal safety and wellbeing of their families.
• Child Tax Credit (CTC) mitigated material hardship and helped families maintain financial stability during the pandemic. Child poverty increased following the expiration of the monthly CTC payments from 12% in December 2021 to 17% in January 2022, the highest rate since the end of 2020.

Social, Emotional, and Mental Health

• Parents experienced isolation, balancing work and family, worry over family getting sick, disruption of childcare and school, inconsistent routines, and expanded caregiver responsibilities all without typical support networks and resources.
• Parental distress is on the rise again (after relief of the vaccine) as the persistent weight and burden of COVID-19 continues after 2 years with new variants emerging.
• Childcare shortages and childcare disruption are linked to both parent and child emotional distress.
• Infants whose mothers were in the first trimester of pregnancy at the height of the pandemic had the lower scores on motor and personal-social domains.

Child Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence

• With lockdowns and virtual school at the beginning of the pandemic and increased isolation overall, there may have been less observation and identification of abuse and domestic violence as well as less access to supports.
• Reports of child abuse and neglect fell during the beginning of the pandemic but the severity of abuse in confirmed cases increased. Confirmed cases were more likely to require medical treatment or intervention.

Long-term Impact of COVID-19 on Families

• Chronic stress during childhood without adequate support of adults can lead to toxic stress, or the chronic activation of stress response system.
• Parents and caregivers play a key role in buffering children from the effects of stress but during the pandemic have been overloaded with threats to their own well-being. Their ability to play the buffering role has been compromised.
• Toxic stress has lasting, long-term effects on health, mental health, and academic success.

Download the complete report brief here.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the wellbeing of children and youth. Loss of parents, caregivers and other family members; social isolation; disruptions in routines and the continuity of learning; limited access to mental health supports; and missed significant life events are among the many stressors brought by the pandemic. Those already marginalized by our systems were hit hardest by the pandemic, including children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities, racial and ethnic minority youth, LBGTQ+ youth, youth from families with low incomes, youth in rural communities and immigrant households, youth involved in the justice, foster care, and/or child welfare systems, and youth experiencing homelessness.

Loss of Parents & Caregivers

• 167,082 children across the U.S. lost a parent, caregiver, or grandparent due to COVID-19.
• In North Carolina, 3,626 children, mostly children of color, are coping with the death of a caregiver.
• Impact of loss of a parent/caregiver can persist throughout life and can negatively impact economic security, mental health, academic achievement, and substance abuse.
• Both exposure to and deaths from COVID-19 have disproportionally heavy toll on low-income families and families of color.

State of Emergency in Children’s Mental Health

• National State of Emergency in Children’s Mental Health has been declared by American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) based on dramatic increases in mental health challenges during the pandemic.
• According to AAP, the worsening mental health crisis is tied to the stress and isolation brought on by COVID-19 and the ongoing struggle for racial justice and represents an acceleration of trends observed prior to 2020.
• Reduced in-person interactions with friends, social supports and professionals like teachers and pediatricians means that it was harder to recognize signs of abuse and mental health concerns.
• There has been a dramatic increase in emergency department visits for mental health crises. The number of ER visits for suspected suicide attempts by girls rose by 51% from 2019 to 2021.
• Behavior problems reported by schools have increased, including vandalism, fighting, and withdrawal.

Long-term Impact of COVID-19 on Children

• Chronic stress during childhood without adequate support of adults can lead to toxic stress, or the chronic activation of stress response system.
• Parents and caregivers play a key role in buffering children from the effects of stress but during the pandemic have been overloaded with threats to their own well-being. Their ability to play the buffering role has been compromised.
• Toxic stress has lasting, long-term effects on health, mental health, and academic success.

Download the complete report brief here.