140,000 American children lost a caregiver to the pandemic, deepening the childcare crisis
- CDC researchers found that 140,000 children lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19.
- The lead researcher called the death toll for parents and caregivers a "hidden, global pandemic."
The pandemic has had a devastating impact across the world, with the US recently hitting 700,000 deaths from the virus. New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show just how much parents and children have suffered, and how big an impact it's had on the beleaguered caregiving sector.
CDC researchers released a study last week that found 120,630 children lost a parent or primary caregiver since the start of the pandemic through June 2021, and another 22,007 children lost a secondary caregiver, or someone who takes care of most but not all the child's needs. This means roughly one in 500 children in the US lost a parent due to COVID-19.
"Children facing orphanhood as a result of COVID is a hidden, global pandemic that has sadly not spared the United States," Susan Hillis, lead author of the study, said in a statement. "All of us - especially our children - will feel the serious immediate and long-term impact of this problem for generations to come."
The researchers also found that 65% of children who lost a parent or caregiver during the pandemic were of racial or ethnic minorities, reflecting the disproportionate impact the virus has had on minority communities.
CDC's new data comes on the tail of a caregiving crisis caused by the pandemic. Insider previously reported on the "she-cession," or women leaving the labor force, during the pandemic, with a large factor being expensive and hard-to-find childcare options. In September, for example, women only accounted for 28,000 net jobs as the Delta variant surged, largely due to women being disproportionately tasked with caregiving and homeschooling.
The cost of childcare is a primary issue. Betsey Stevenson, a former economist for President Barack Obama, told Insider in an interview that there's a "fundamental funding problem" for childcare. It has cost the US economy $57 billion in lost earnings since the 1990s, the nonprofit Council for a Strong America estimates.
"The United States has failed to make the changes necessary to support working families and I think that was one of our real vulnerabilities during COVID," Stevenson said. "This is our opportunity for reform."
The reform she's referencing is the childcare provision in Democrats' $3.5 trillion social-spending package. House Democrats unveiled their plan last month to invest $761 billion to make childcare more affordable, and Stevenson, along with 126 other economists, pushed for it to ensure children can get quality care and their parents can afford it.