At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States (and globally), children and their families began experiencing severe disruptions to schooling and child care. By the end of March 2020, all but one U.S. public school district was closed in response to COVID-19,1 and at the start of the 2020-21 school year 74 percent of the largest school districts remained closed for in-person instruction.2 While more likely to stay open compared to K-12 schools, about two thirds of child care centers were closed in April 2020 and one third remained closed in April 2021.3 In addition to being disruptive to children’s learning4 and well-being,5 these closures disrupted many parents’ abilities to work, with many parents (disproportionally mothers) reducing work hours or leaving the workforce altogether in order to care for children.6
In 2021, many child care settings re-opened7 as in-person learning became safer due to improved knowledge of how to keep children and staff healthy amidst the pandemic (e.g., improved cleaning procedures, keeping children in smaller than typical groups) and increased availability and administration of vaccines for adults. Despite re-openings, however, child care (and thus employment) disruptions continued due to ongoing illnesses among staff and children, staff needing to care for their sick family members, and workforce shortages.8,9 Importantly, child care and employment disruptions were not felt equally among all children and families. Prior studies among families and households with children under age 18 have found that Black and Latinoa households and families experienced significantly higher rates of child care disruptions compared to White families, and households with lower incomes experienced higher rates of disruptions than those with higher incomes.10-12 Higher rates of child care disruptions within these groups are an equity concern because pandemic-related care disruptions have been linked with elevated emotional distress and anxiety and decreased well-being for parents.13-16
On average, Black and Hispanic individuals, as well as those with lower incomes, had fewer resources with which to respond to sudden and prolonged child care disruptions than others due to the nature of their employment. More specifically, due to historical inequities in who could access higher education,17,18 buy homes in desirable neighborhoods,19 and build wealth,20 Black and Hispanic workers and workers with lower incomes are less likely to work in jobs with flexibility to shift hours, have ample paid time off, and have the ability to telework compared to White individuals and those with higher incomes.21-23 Indeed, likely related to these pre-existing differences in employment features, Black and Hispanic households with children under 18, as well as those with lower incomes, were more likely to report losing a job or taking unpaid leave. They were also less likely to report taking paid time off in response to child care disruptions in the Spring of 2021 compared to White and Asian households, and households with higher incomes.24-28
In this report, we describe rates of child care disruptions and employment-related responses to those disruptions (i.e., losing pay, taking paid leave, not working or not searching for a job, supervising children while working) from July 2021 to May 2022 for households with children under age 5, both overall and by five household characteristics. Those characteristics include race/ethnicity, household income, the number of adults in the household, employment status, and telework status. This report adds to our understanding of child care disruptions and households’ employment-related responses to disruptions in two important ways:
Overall, findings from this report add to the literature on child care disruptions during the pandemic, and provide new insights into disruptions and how those disruptions affect families with our youngest learners.
This brief is part of the Child Care and Early Education Policy and Research Analysis (CCEEPRA) project. CCEEPRA supports policy and program planning and decision-making with rigorous, research-based information.
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