Risk and Resilience in Early Childhood During the COVID-19 Pandemic: From a Social Equity Perspective

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of U.S. young children are facing challenging situations because of severe financial strains, childcare disruptions, unpredictable socio-cultural environments, and long-standing racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities. These challenges have a substantial impact on child cognitive, educational, and socioemotional development. To provide actionable findings and inform programs/policy decisions targeting equitable early childhood development, it is critical to investigate the unique risk and resilience factors for young children. This symposium features three papers that leverage a social equity perspective to understand the pandemic’s impact on early childhood development. Paper 1 reports the cumulative impact of material hardships on child in-person school adjustment following school closures, revealing the particularly severe disruptions among children with special educational needs. Paper 2 applies the anti-racist “protecting, promoting, & preserving” framework and identifies three key resilience aspects in the needs, health-promoting behaviors, and well-being among Black families with babies in the face of the dual pandemic – COVID-19 and racism. This paper also makes recommendations for anti-racist policies/strategies to promote positive outcomes and opportunities for Black families and children. Paper 3 employs a mix-method approach and identifies 23 supportive factors for families with young children during the pandemic, highlighting the disparities experienced by and distinctions of needed support among families from different income and racial/ethnic backgrounds. From a social equity perspective, these papers all highlight the structural inequalities in pandemic experiences for children in racial/ethnic minority, low-income, or special-need backgrounds. Findings have direct implications for post-pandemic efforts to improve equity in early learning and development.

Sub Unit

• Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Chair

• Philip Fisher, Stanford University

Discussant

• Joan Lombardi, Georgetown University

Individual Presentations

• Young Children’s Adjustment to School Following the COVID-19 Pandemic - Presenting Author: Jill Gandhi, Columbia University; Kathryn M. Neckerman, Columbia University; Jane Waldfogel, Columbia University

• Black Parents and Their Babies: The Dual Pandemic of Racism and COVID-19, 2019–2022 - Presenting Author: B. Aspacia Stafford, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Iheoma U. Iruka, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Jacqueline P. Sims, Boston University; Sharron Hunter-Rainey, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Support Factors for Families of Young Children in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Leveraging Open-Ended Survey Responses - Presenting Author: Sihong Liu, Stanford University; Sara Weston, University of Oregon; Ian Shryock, University of Oregon; Philip Fisher, Stanford University