ArticleBMC public health2023
Experiences of distress and gaps in government safety net supports among parents of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study.
Article in BMC public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- The influence of early childhood education and care on the relation between early-life social adversity and children's mental health in the environmental influences for Child Health Outcomes Program.Development and psychopathology · 2025Observational
- Student and Parental Job Loss During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Effects on Household Economic Security.American journal of industrial medicine · 2025Article
- Trajectories and patterns of US counties' policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic: A sequence analysis approach.SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Age-related differences in trust beliefs during middle childhood: Downward-extension and validation of the general trust scale.PloS one · 2025Article
- Gender inequality in work location, childcare and work-life balance: Phase-specific differences throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.PloS one · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic prompted rapid federal, state, and local government policymaking to buffer families from the health and economic harms of the pandemic. However, there has been little attention to families' perceptions of whether the pandemic safety net policy response was adequate, and what is needed to alleviate lasting effects on family well-being. This study examines the experiences and challenges of families with low incomes caring for young children during the pandemic.
methodsSemi-structured qualitative interviews conducted from August 2020 to January 2021 with 34 parents of young children in California were analyzed using thematic analysis.
resultsWe identified three key themes related to parents' experiences during the pandemic: (1) positive experiences with government support programs, (2) challenging experiences with government support programs, and (3) distress resulting from insufficient support for childcare disruptions. Participants reported that program expansions helped alleviate food insecurity, and those attending community colleges reported accessing a range of supports through supportive counselors. However, many reported gaps in support for childcare and distance learning, pre-existing housing instability, and parenting stressors. With insufficient supports, additional childcare and education workloads resulted in stress and exhaustion, guilt about competing demands, and stagnation of longer-term goals for economic and educational advancement.
conclusionsFamilies of young children, already facing housing and economic insecurity prior to the pandemic, experienced parental burnout. To support family well-being, participants endorsed policies to remove housing barriers, and expand childcare options to mitigate job loss and competing demands on parents. Policy responses that either alleviate stressors or bolster supports have the potential to prevent distress catalyzed by future disasters or the more common destabilizing experiences of economic insecurity.
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