Investigating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic child care closures on developmental outcomes of young children in low-income families

Project Summary / Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated many existing inequalities, including access to child care, education, and family support services. Children in low-income families and minorities, already vulnerable, were overrepresented in areas with high rates of pandemic- induced child care center closures. This is especially concerning in a context where children exposed to environmental risk factors like poverty and maltreatment face significant barriers in early identification of developmental disorders and early intervention. Child care centers can be instrumental for timely identification and reporting developmental delays, and early intervention is key to prevent further developmental disorders. Early education and quality child care have been found to help vulnerable children's development in many dimensions. Therefore, the potential impact of the pandemic in general, and of childcare center closures in particular, on vulnerable children's development is concerning. To date, little is known about the quantitative impact of these disruptions on vulnerable children's outcomes. The purpose of the proposed analysis is to measure the effects of decreased access to child care centers during the pandemic on COVID-19 pandemic on developmental screening outcomes of infants and toddlers in low-income and at-risk families who receive services from a home visitation program. In a context of pre-existing inequities, this project also seeks to elucidate how structural inequalities disproportionately hurting low-income families and racial- ethnic minorities affect this impact. Inferring causality about these issues is typically challenging because a family's characteristics that affect its childcare options and location decisions may also determine the child's developmental outcomes. To tackle this issue, we will exploit the geographic variation in disruptions in child care centers closures during the pandemic as a natural experiment generating exogenous variation in availability. Correctly assessing any expected deteriorations in the developmental progress of vulnerable and at-risk children in these communities is crucial to determine early intervention actions that can address this issue. Results from this work will increase our understanding of the potential long-term consequences of the COVID-19 crisis via its effect on vulnerable children. Our findings will also speak to the broader issue of the consequences of structural inequalities and lack of family support for our children's development, and can serve as guidelines for policies and health initiatives targeted at vulnerable children and their families.