Differential impact of disrupted child care on low-income US households during the COVID-19 pandemic, April 2021-February 2022

The United States has a largely privatized child care system that stands out among high-income countries which generally incorporate some level of public support for child care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. child care system was faced with unprecedented challenges which forced many child care providers to limit enrollment or cease operations. As child care providers re-opened, U.S. families faced a reality in which many child care providers reduced enrollment, some child care providers closed permanently, and nearly all child care providers faced multiple quarantines of staff and students. This left many families struggling to establish reliable child care. This study aimed to examine the impact of disrupted child care during the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. households, with a particular focus on income disparities and related employment outcomes. This study analyzed nationally representative data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey (April 2021–February 2022) using descriptive and regression analyses to estimate the prevalence of child care disruptions and their association with household economic characteristics and employment impacts. In the 4 weeks preceding the survey between April 2021 and February 2022, we found caring for children was the primary reason survey respondents were not working. These disruptions had disparate impacts on households at or below 200% of the poverty threshold. At or below 200% of the poverty threshold households were more likely to report impacts of child care disruptions such as the loss of a job or the use of unpaid leave. This has left households at or close to poverty in increasingly dire economic circumstances and threatens the broader economic recovery of lower-income Americans. Findings underscore the importance of accessible and reliable child care for national economic security.