Student Well-Being What the Research Says

National Panel: Kids Who Lost a Caregiver to COVID Need More Support

By Sarah D. Sparks — March 17, 2023 2 min read
Illustration of child holding missing adult hand.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Barring major new outbreaks, school disruptions from the pandemic have passed. Federal and state governments have dedicated millions of dollars toward recouping the learning opportunities lost during school closures.

But a new report by the National Academies of Sciences suggests the recovery efforts to date have not targeted enough support for students who have lost family members.

The rise in family deaths and other disruptions could increase the “risk for a negative developmental cascade among traumatized and bereaved children who are already struggling educationally, leading to school failure,” National Academies researchers warned.

More than a million people have died from COVID and related complications in the last three years in the United States alone, with communities of color disproportionately hard hit due to systemic disparities in health care and other support.

The National Academies found children from racial and ethnic minority groups make up 65 percent of the 265,000 children who lost a parent or primary caregiver to COVID—and that’s not counting those who lost other family members.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also found death rates for pregnant women and new mothers from all causes nearly doubled from January 2019 to January 2022, with mothers of color also disproportionately affected.

The trauma of losing a caregiver can increase students’ risk of long-term academic and mental health struggles in school, researchers noted, including internal depression and anxiety and external behavior problems, as well as greater “household chaos” and financial instability for the remaining family.

In school, experts said symptoms of grieving could show up years after the fact, from physical symptoms like headaches or stomach pain (particularly in younger students) to increased depression, anxiety, or behavior problems.

See Also

Conceptual illustration of a stressed and unhappy person under a storm of negative emotions and viruses
fedrelena/iStock
Student Well-Being Opinion Grief Has Engulfed the Learning Environment. Here's What Can Help
Brittany R. Collins, January 14, 2022
5 min read

The National Academies task force recommended state and federal policymakers extend family medical and social support programs targeted at the pandemic’s hardest hit communities, including Medicaid, the Child Health Insurance Program, and the Child Tax Credit, all of which were expanded during the pandemic but which may be cut back as outbreaks have eased.

“Across almost every outcome, low-income and racially and ethnically minoritized children and their families have borne the brunt of the pandemic’s negative effects, and without urgent, thoughtful interventions for their health and well-being, they will continue to bear it,” said Tumaini Rucker Coker, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Children’s Hospital, and chairman of the committee that wrote the report.

For educators, the report recommended providing home visits to families of young children, and doing more to identify and provide mental health services to students traumatized by the pandemic.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Pave the Path to Excellence in Math
Empower your students' math journey with Sue O'Connell, author of “Math in Practice” and “Navigating Numeracy.”
Content provided by hand2mind
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Combatting Teacher Shortages: Strategies for Classroom Balance and Learning Success
Learn from leaders in education as they share insights and strategies to support teachers and students.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Reading Instruction and AI: New Strategies for the Big Education Challenges of Our Time
Join the conversation as experts in the field explore these instructional pain points and offer game-changing guidance for K-12 leaders and educators.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Student Well-Being Opinion What Data-Driven SEL Has Done for My District
Here’s how data can transform social-emotional learning, writes an SEL district coordinator.
Michael Mallery Jr.
4 min read
Multi colored vector illustration of group of stylized people
Digital Vision Vectors/Getty
Student Well-Being Busting Myths and Misconceptions About Motivating Students
Three experts in motivation weigh in on how to help students stay engaged and focused in school.
4 min read
Students with raised hands.
E+ / Getty
Student Well-Being Free Meals for All Students Is Best Way to Combat Hunger, Report Concludes
Some students say the quality of free meals has declined over the past few years.
3 min read
Students eat lunch at Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School in New York on Dec. 10, 2019.
Students eat lunch at Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School in New York City on Dec. 10, 2019.
Seth Wenig/AP
Student Well-Being Opinion Are Your Students Frustrated? That’s Not Always Bad
Before you talk a student out of doing a difficult project, consider the potential upside.
Amy Edmondson
1 min read
Images shows a stylized artistic landscape with soothing colors.
Getty