Poverty in childhood, and food and housing insecurity which often comes along with it, create a prolonged activation of the stress response system that disrupts the development of children’s brains. This chronic, toxic stress can lead to lifelong learning difficulties and behavioral health challenges.

Pediatricians are an important source of behavioral and mental health care for children and recent polls reveal they are parents’ most trusted source of information on the Covid vaccine for children.

The majority of psychologists have seen their waiting lists grow since the pandemic hit. And many Americans are turning to crisis hotlines, which are also seeing ballooning demand.

Without Medicaid expansion, hospitals don’t receive sufficient reimbursement for the care they provide to an increased number of uninsured patients and, as a result, oftentimes must close for financial reasons.

Of third graders who did take reading assessments, learning loss is evident. Third-grade reading scores in fall 2021 were lower than in fall 2019 by 7 percentile points on average.

As parents pivot back into the workforce, families with children under 5 still face difficult child care decisions. Affordable, quality options continue to dwindle – leaving families in the lurch. 3 in 10 adults experienced a child care disruption in the 4 weeks ending December 13, 2021.

In 2020, as the nation suddenly shifted to widespread remote learning and work, the fact that more than 1 in 10 Americans lacked broadband greatly hampered many families’ ability to remain productive and connected.

While 63% of the population in the U.S. is fully vaccinated, vaccination rates vary widely across counties.

As case rates from the Omicron variant begin to peak, hospitalizations remain high, stressing health care systems and health care workers.

Hospitalization rates in all age groups have spiked since December 2021, straining health care systems across the nation.

The U.S. added 1.7 million jobs in Q1 2022, with 1.6 million jobs still to go to reach the Feb 2020 pre-pandemic peak.

Since July 2021, more than 4 million employees quit their jobs every month. November reached a new all-time high of 4.5 million quits.

The pandemic caused workers to rethink their options, with some upskilling to transition to higher-paying occupations. Generally speaking, workers are demanding higher wages and better working conditions.

Climate disasters have compounded the nation’s misery since the pandemic struck. 59% of Americans live in a county that has had a disaster since March 2020.

Estimates of monthly poverty rates during the pandemic highlight the benefit of annual Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) payments for children and working-age adults. They also illustrate how stimulus and expanded unemployment payments reduced financial hardships, particularly for children.

While LGBTQIA+ people remain unseen in many official statistics, the Census Bureau, through its Household Pulse Survey, is providing needed visibility on the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in America during the pandemic.

The share of adults experiencing anxiety or depression roughly tripled when the Covid crisis hit.

About 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. who are late on rent or mortgage payments expect to lose their home in the next two months. Cities and counties can mitigate a wave of homelessness and instability by enacting one or more ordinances that hold landlords accountable for unjust evictions, and stop eviction processes when past due rent is paid with reasonable late fees.

Putting food on the table has been a problem throughout the pandemic as low-wage workers suffered heavy job losses. 10% of adults in the U.S. – 16% in DC, LA, MS, and AK – reported their households went hungry in December

The December Stimulus bill (ERA) and the March American Rescue Plan (ERA2) include a combined $45 billion in rental assistance. But this assistance is being doled out through hundreds of state and local emergency rental assistance programs that vary greatly. Many places have been slow to distribute this critical aid.

Although hospitals in 6 Southern states are already more full than the 2019 national average, 5 of those states have decreased the frequency at which they alert the public of new cases. With a deadly race between viral variants and hospitalization capacity, timely data-tracking and transparency by local governments will be crucial to support mid-course corrections in public health responses as conditions continue to rapidly change.