The Impact of COVID-19 on Children's Lives in the United States: Amplified Inequities and a Just Path to Recovery

Charles Oberg, HR Hodges, Sara Gander, Rita Nathawad, Diana Cutts

This review will first highlight systemic/institutional inequities accentuated by the pandemic for subgroups of vulnerable children. These include Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), Black and Latinx, Indigenous populations, refugee communities, those with disability and LGBTQIA+ youth. It will then examine the impact of COVID-19 on the lives of American children including the effects on poverty, food insecurity and housing instability. It then explores the disruptions in health care access and utilization, childcare, and education. It will then review the overarching implications for childhood mental health and well-being. Finally, it will provide a series of recommendations on how best to achieve a just and equitable recovery for families and children.

Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care