During the pandemic, people are talking a lot
about children.
They're talking about the older kids who've been
robbed of proms and graduations, of levity and closure and in some cases plans
for their futures. There's been plenty of talk about kids missing out on
school, the ways in which they may fall behind, the challenges of remote
learning ahead. Frustrated parents have repeatedly lamented the hardships of
working at home with kids – scrambling for time, desperate for space, leaning
heavily on screens they've long tried to limit.
What has received far less attention, child
development experts say, is the impact the pandemic is having on the youngest
children: babies, toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners.
Birth to age 5 is a critical time for child development, research shows, and new data
from the Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development Early Childhood
Household Survey Project (RAPID-EC Project) shows caregiver distress is
cascading down to young children in ways science shows can be toxic in the
short- and long-term.
"The national conversation is not focused
nearly enough on early childhood and infancy, which is the period that we know
is most important for brain development and in which the brain is most effected
by what's going on in the world around it," said RAPID project director
Phil Fisher.
Kelsey Rutledge holds her daughter, Bonnie
Ferguson, 20 months, as Sarah Smith, the owner of Busy Bee Academy, checks her
temperature before she enters the daycare on April 9, 2020, in Bastrop, Texas.
Ana Ramirez, Austin American-Statesman
The RAPID-EC project was formed in March by
leading early childhood advocates and researchers to study the impacts of the
pandemic on children 5 years old and younger. Since researchers can't
survey young children or study them in labs, the next best thing is to check in
on the people caring for them, since research shows how closely connected the
emotional well-being of a caregiver is to the emotional well-being of a child.
The project has been conducting weekly
surveys since April and has found caregivers
of young children are experiencing distress, material hardship and loss of
emotional supports. Since the project's data is sequential, it also is
able to show a chain reaction. When a family is stressed about meeting
basic needs, the next week they report more emotional distress, and the
week after report increases in their child's emotional distress.
"There's no question that if you can't buy
food or you can't pay your rent, that you are experiencing the kind of stress
that is going to be toxic to your children," Fisher said.
Researchers have found caregiver well-being is tied to coronavirus infection rates in the
state where they live. As a state's rate of infection climbs, so does
caregiver distress. As it declines, well-being improves. The project also
found:
- 68% of caregivers of young children report a significant increase in stress from before the pandemic.
- 63% of caregivers say they have lost emotional support.
- 20% of households are experiencing material hardship.
- As of the last week of July, 78% of caregivers reported their child was exhibiting behavior problems.
"As much as the coronavirus has been a
slow-moving catastrophe, what's going to happen to the next generation is going
to be an even slower moving catastrophe," Fisher said. "It's going to
be in three years when kids enter school and in five years when kids are going
into high school, and in 20 years, when we start to see the health effects,
increased rates of heart disease and diabetes from kids who lived through this
extraordinary, stressful time."
The surveys found that caregivers in
lower-income households report experiencing more depression and anxiety. Anxiety
and stress among Black households was lower than the overall sample when
the surveys began, but since May, when the death of George Floyd sparked racial
unrest, the trend reversed. If it continues, Black caregivers’ anxiety and
stress will soon be higher than the overall sample, Fisher said.
Experts say these trends do not bode well. Without
intervention, many families of young children will suffer.
"My sense is that what is driving stress on parents is a combination
of worry about contracting the virus; concern about how best to protect their
children and elderly family members; and ongoing financial issues that are
threatening their ability to meet basic needs," said Joan Lombardi, chair
of the RAPID-EC National Advisory Group and former deputy
assistant secretary for early childhood during the Obama Administration.
What happens at the beginning of a child's life
is crucial to what comes after, research shows. Early emotional experiences become embedded in the
architecture of children's brains, which is why the impact of COVID could
have lifelong consequences.
A child's emotional well-being can impact
everything from the formation of friendships and intimate relationships to
whether they can hold a job. These years are critical to a child's ability to understand their feelings
and to empathize with the feelings of others.
"The emotional health of young children – or the absence of it –
is closely tied to the social and emotional characteristics of the
environments in which they live, which include not only their parents
but also the broader context of their families and communities,"
the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child wrote in a paper on
children's emotional development.
Lombardi says RAPID's data should be a wake-up call for policy makers.
"Families across the country need action, they need continued
unemployment benefits, housing and food supports," she said. "They
need leadership that is committed to helping end this pandemic."
RAPID's researchers say the expiration last month of key pieces of The
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act – which included
extended unemployment insurance and a moratorium on evictions – will increase
vulnerabilities for families with young kids. They're calling on lawmakers to
enact policies that ensure these families can meet basic needs.
"The clock is
ticking," Fisher said.
Alia E. Dastagir
Recipient of a Rosalynn Carter
fellowship
for mental health journalism.
Follow her on
Twitter: @alia_e
Published 3:45 PM EDT Aug 19, 2020
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