The effect of state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) eligibility on food insufficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper uses data from the Household Pulse Survey to examine whether and for how long the eligibility to receive state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) benefits reduced self-reported household food insufficiency among lower-income households with dependent children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of models estimated using difference-in-differences (DD) and difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) methods suggest that state EITC eligibility, on average, reduced food insufficiency by about 3 percentage points between March 2021 and early October 2021. However, the results of models estimated using an event study method show that the effect was not visible in all the post-March bimonthly periods. Overall, this paper finds some evidence to suggest that state EITC eligibility reduced food insufficiency over a short period.

Association between reasons for not working and reporting of major depression and anxiety symptoms among U.S. adult population during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 continues to take a large toll on the mental health of the not working population, particularly of those who were unable to work. This study, using the Household Pulse Survey, estimated the association between reasons for not working and major depression and anxiety symptoms (MDAS). The lowest MDAS was reported by retirees. Individuals who were unable to work because of transportation problems, layoffs, COVID-19 concerns, and sickness or disability reported the highest MDAS. Mediation analysis showed that the direct and indirect effects of reasons for not working were much higher for those individuals who were unable to work than for individuals who were working or decided not to work. © This work was authored as part of the Contributor's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 USC. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under US Law.

A Statistical Understanding of Disability in the LGBT Community

For the first time ever, the United States Census Bureau began collecting data on the LGBT community with Phase 3.2 of the Household Pulse Survey. The Household Pulse Survey assesses how residents of the United States are doing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data provided by the Household Pulse Survey Week 34 through Week 39 provides information to understand the lives of LGBT residents of the United States and how the LGBT community as a whole is doing economically.This study merges six weeks of the Household Pulse Survey, for a total of 382,908 survey responses. The sample represents a population of 250,265,449 adult residents aged 18 and older in the United States. This study provides the first nationally representative sample of residents of the United States that identify as transgender. This study specifically focuses on LGBT people with disabilities but highlights disparities facing transgender disabled U.S. adult residents. Disability is defined in the Household Pulse Survey as a severe or total impairment of those with seeing, hearing, remembering, and mobility disability types. The data indicates significant disparities for LGBT people compared to non-LGBT people, specifically in terms of economic considerations like work loss, household finances, and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Statistics & Public Policy is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Prevalence, sociodemographic and household characteristics, and impacts of disrupted child care due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., April-July 2021.

Child care closures have become pervasive in the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, parents and caregivers' jobs have been affected as they have needed to care for children at home. This study estimated the burden of disrupted child care due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the pandemic's impact on employment among U.S. households between April and July 2021. Data came from the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, Phase 3.1. The study sample included 55,312 households with any children in a child care arrangement. We estimated the prevalence of disrupted child care overall and by select sociodemographic and household characteristics as well as employment impacts among households that experienced disrupted child care. Overall, 20.4% (95% confidence interval: 19.1, 21.7) of U.S. households experienced disrupted child care; percentages varied by state from a low of 7.7% in Utah to a high of 29.4% in the District of Columbia. The prevalence of disrupted child care was highest among non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic Black, low-income, and households that experienced material hardship. Adults were most likely to report supervising children while working, cutting work hours, and taking unpaid leave due to disruptions in child care. Continued support to the child care industry and to families with children may reduce the impacts of disrupted child care.

Child Tax Credit, Spending Patterns, and Mental Health: Mediation Analyses of Data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey during COVID-19.

This study examined the relationship between the receipt of COVID-19 child tax credit and adult mental health problems in the United States, and we explored whether and the extent to which a wide range of spending patterns of the credit-15 patterns regarding basic necessities, child education, and household expenditure-mediated the relationship. We used COVID-19-specialized data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, a representative population sample (N = 98,026) of adult respondents (18 and older) who participated between 21 July 2021 and 11 July 2022. By conducting mediation analyses with logistic regression, we found relationships between the credit and lower levels of anxiety (odds ratio [OR] = 0.914; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.879, 0.952). The OR was substantially mediated by spending on basic necessities such as food and housing costs (proportion mediated = 46% and 44%, respectively). The mediating role was relatively moderate in the case of spending on child education and household expenditure. We also found that spending the credit on savings or investments reduces the effect of the child tax credit on anxiety (-40%) while donations or giving to family were not a significant mediator. Findings on depression were consistent with anxiety. The child tax credit-depression relationships were substantially mediated by spending on food and housing (proportion mediated = 53% and 70%). These mediation analyses suggested that different patterns of credit spending are important mediators of the relationship between the receipt of the child tax credit and mental illnesses. Public health approaches to improve adult mental health during and after the COVID-19 pandemic need to consider the notable mediating role of spending patterns.

The Disparities on Loss of Employment Income by US Households During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This paper examines the role of the COVID-19 pandemic on the loss of employment income on different ethnic groups in the USA using weekly Household Pulse Survey (HPS) data from the US Census Bureau from August 19 to November 9, 2020. This study is significant for two reasons. First, it documents the loss of employment income on various households in the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic period from March 13, 2020, to November 9, 2020. Second, it examines the effect on the different ethnic groups based on demographic and socioeconomic status of these households. We specifically examine the role of income, employment, education, location, access to technology, and health insurance among the different age groups, race/ethnicity, and gender. We employ multivariate logistic regression analysis for the study. The study also employs Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition analysis to investigate the source of disparities in loss of employment income on the different racial/ethnic groups. The multivariate regression examines the effects of income, employment, education, location, health insurance, access to technology, different age groups, race/ethnicity, and gender. This method enables us to estimate the level of differences in loss of employment income outcomes among the various race/ethnic groups based on their socioeconomic status. Our a priori expectation is that loss of employment income and household income, educational status, and employment will be positively correlated. However, we have no a priori expectation of the correlation with location, race/ethnicity, and gender. Our results show that Hispanics, Blacks, Other, and Asians experienced a loss of employment income of 35.6%, 25.3%, 31.2%, and 6.2% higher than Whites, respectively. Equally important is that 45.9%, 40.3%, and 25.2% of the differences are unexplained or attributed to discrimination for Hispanics, Other, and Blacks, respectively.

Current and Future Food Insufficiency During Covid-19: Examining Disparities by Race/Ethnicity and Recent Work Loss.

The Covid-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020, has eroded the previous decade's reductions in food insecurity. Pandemic-related food insufficiency has been concentrated among Black and Hispanic households and those who have experienced a recent work loss. Households with children are particularly vulnerable. Using the first twenty-one weeks of the US Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey data from April 2020 through December of 2020, we examine the association between recent work losses and food insufficiency and document the extent to which the impact varies by race/ethnicity. Work loss is predictive of current and future food insufficiency, with the association most acutely experienced by Blacks and Hispanics and households with children. There is evidence of racial/ethnic disparities in current and future food insufficiency. The results provide insight into how the pandemic has widened racial/ethnic gaps in the experience of food insufficiency despite recent policy interventions.

Race and Ethnic Group Disparities in Emotional Distress Among Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Framed within Conservation of Resources theory, this study addressed race-ethnic differences in the relationships between emotional distress and current and expected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic stressors. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The study employed data from the Household Pulse Survey, a large national survey collecting weekly data to understand the experiences of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic (age 55 and above; N = 94,550). Emotional distress included depression and anxiety symptoms. COVID-19 stressors included current and expected income, housing, health care, and food insecurities. RESULTS: Older persons of color reported higher rates of stressors and emotional distress than their White counterparts. In relation to current stressors, older Black persons responded with less emotional distress and older Latino persons responded with more emotional distress than older White persons. In addition, older persons of color were more likely to expect future resource losses related to COVID-19, and the association between these expectations and emotional distress varied by race-ethnic group. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: The findings reflected the disproportionate negative impact of COVID-19 stressors on emotional distress among older persons of color, providing a baseline for future studies to further examine the impacts of the pandemic among diverse older adult populations.

Disparities Old and New in US Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced well-being and economic security on a number of dimensions, likely worsening mental health. In this paper, we assess how mental health in the US population has changed during the pandemic. We use three large, nationally representative survey sources to provide a picture of mental health prior to and during the pandemic. We find dramatic but broad-based declines in the level of mental health from pre-pandemic baseline measures across both people and places. Rates of poor mental health have jumped roughly 25 percentage points, from a base of roughly one-third. We document substantial disparities in mental health but show that the pandemic has generally preserved, rather than widened, these. Significant worsening in relative mental health among Hispanics and respondents aged 30 and older are exceptions. Consistent with an important role for pandemic-specific shocks, We find that income loss, food insecurity, COVID-19 infection or death in one's close circle, and personal health symptoms are all associated with substantially worse mental health. If anything, the decline in mental health is worsening as the pandemic wears on and is becoming less related to local COVID-19 case rates.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Household Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Nationally Representative Study.

Previous research has demonstrated that the burden of household food insecurity is disproportionately high among racial/ethnic minority groups, yet no peer-reviewed studies have systematically examined racial/ethnic disparities in household food insecurity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study on household food insecurity during COVID-19 used data from a nationally representative sample of US households through the 2020 Household Pulse Survey (HPS) (including all 50 states and the District of Columbia, n = 74,413 households). Six generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were estimated, and the results indicated that households headed by Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, or other racial/ethnic minorities were not significantly more food insecure than White households during the pandemic. However, among food-insecure households, Black households were more likely to report that they could not afford to buy more food; Asian and Hispanic households were more likely to be afraid to go out to buy food; Asian households were more likely to face transportation issues when purchasing food; while White households were more likely to report that stores did not have the food they wanted. Moreover, racial/ethnic minorities were significantly less confident about their household food security for the next 4 weeks than Whites. The coronavirus pandemic crisis has exposed and exacerbated the food injustice in American society. Policymakers and local officials should take concerted actions to improve the capacity of food supply and ensure food equality across all racial/ethnic groups.