Kids, Families and COVID-19: Pandemic Pain Points and the Urgent Need to Respond
JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri children and families have experienced significant struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting households’ finances, schooling, employment, and physical and mental health. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, a decades-long advocate for young people in America, has released Kids, Families and COVID-19: Pandemic Pain Points and the Urgent Need to Respond. The 50-state report addresses the impact of COVID-19 on children and families who are experiencing unprecedented disruption and economic storm set off by the global health crisis.
In assessing food security, the ability to make rent or mortgage payments, health insurance status and mental health concerns, the Foundation identified four pain points for children and families that require immediate action for relief and an opportunity to build a more equitable future. Key findings include:
- One in seven U.S. and Missouri families with children (14%) said that in the most recent week, there was sometimes or always not enough to eat in their household.
- Nearly one in five U.S. households with kids (18%) and one in six Missouri households with kids said they had only slight confidence or no confidence at all that they would be able to make their next rent or mortgage payment on time.
- One in eight families with children (12%) in both Missouri and the U.S. overall lack health insurance, a figure which has been worsening over the past four years. More than a third of people with children in the household (34%) in the U.S. reported that they had delayed getting medical care in the previous month.
- A fifth of U.S. respondents with children in their households (21%) reported that they had felt down, depressed or hopeless in the previous week, indicating a widespread need for access to mental health care. In Missouri this 22% of respondents reported these mental health care needs.
“America’s children are in crisis,” said Annie E. Casey Foundation President and CEO Lisa Hamilton. “All across the country, families with children are struggling to overcome an unprecedented convergence of emergencies. We need immediate and decisive action from policymakers that prioritizes equitable solutions to help families survive this catastrophe.”
William Dent, Executive Director of the Missouri Family and Community Trust (FACT), home to Missouri KIDS COUNT, said “Missouri’s family and child-serving providers have stepped up to work together to protect and provide for our kids. In our communities, parents, schools, churches, health care and mental health clinicians, public health workers, businesses, and other social service providers have collaborated in unprecedented ways to ameliorate the health and financial impacts of this pandemic.”
“In the past few months of the pandemic, between 35% and 40% of Missouri adults in households with children reported struggling to pay for typical household expenses. While the introduction of the vaccine will stimulate the economy and reengage the workforce, as Missourians, we will continue to support our children, families, and communities.” said Tracy Greever-Rice, the Missouri KIDS COUNT program director.
“Our federal, state and local decision makers need to mount a response to COVID-19 that enables America’s children and families to weather this crisis and yields more equitable outcomes,” said Leslie Boissiere, Vice President of External Affairs at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which earlier this year provided an unprecedented $1.8 trillion in support to families, businesses and state, local and tribal governments, is proof our leaders can intervene to reach families and children in pain.”
Click here to download this policy report.
December 16, 2020
