The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in safety-net policies and programs, while the lack of a national response to the public health crisis is failing children and families of color, a report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation finds.
Based largely on weekly surveys conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau from mid-September to mid-October, the report, Kids, families and COVID-19: Pandemic pain points and the urgent need to respond (22 pages, PDF), found that 14 percent of households with children reported “sometimes or often” not having enough food, including 23 percent of African-American families, 23 percent of multiracial (or “other”) families, and 19 percent of Latinx families. Nearly one in five (18 percent) had “slight or no confidence” that they could pay their rent or mortgage on time, including 31 percent of African-American, 26 percent of Latinx, and 26 percent of multiracial families, while Black (39 percent), multiracial (39 percent), and Latinx (36 percent) adults with children were most likely to say they could be evicted or foreclosed on.
The report also found that 12 percent of households with children did not have health insurance, with the highest uninsured rates in Georgia (21 percent), Texas (21 percent), and Oklahoma (17 percent) and among Latinx (23 percent), multiracial (20 percent), and African-American (14 percent) families. And one in five respondents said they “felt down, depressed, or hopeless,” including 28 percent of multiracial, 23 percent of African-American, 23 percent of Latinx, 20 percent of white, and 16 percent of Asian-American respondents.
To protect children and families, the report’s authors call on federal, state, and local decision makers to focus on racial/ethnic equity in their response efforts, using disaggregated data and input from community stakeholders in the policymaking process; prioritize the physical and mental health of all children, with a focus on guaranteeing access to vaccines, strengthening the Affordable Care Act, and increasing funding for in-school mental health counselors; improve the financial security of families by expanding access to unemployment insurance and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits; and ensure that schools are better and more equitably funded and ready to meet the needs of students disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
“Every child in the United States should have the basics, and families should have support to survive the considerable stress and pain of these times,” said Casey Foundation CEO Lisa Hamilton. “Our leaders can respond to the COVID-19 crisis by putting equity first, prioritizing children’s physical and mental health, helping families achieve financial stability and strengthening schools so kids can thrive in spite of the extraordinary times.”
