More than 40,000 children likely lost parents to Covid-19. Who will help them?
The Covid-19 pandemic is multiple crises in one, and our fixation with deaths and case numbers can obscure some of the pandemic’s collateral damage. But more of the related fallout is now coming into view, particularly when it comes to children. Researchers now estimate that more than 40,000 children in the United States have lost a parent to Covid-19. Per the estimates, published recently in JAMA Pediatrics, for every 13 people who die of Covid-19 in the US, one person under the age of 18 loses a parent. It’s part of a broader grief crisis that’s likely to leave a lasting toll on society. The death of a loved one at any age is hard. But for young people, it can be particularly destabilizing, altering the course of their lives. When a young person loses a parent, they don’t just lose someone they love, they lose financial support. They become at greater risk of dropping out of school (at any level); for anxiety, depression, alcohol and other substance misuse issues; and feeling like they have lost control over their lives. “Moreover,” the authors of the JAMA Pediatrics estimate write, “Covid-19 losses are occurring at a time of social isolation, institutional strain, and economic hardship, potentially leaving bereaved children without the supports they need.” Compared to white children, a greater proportion of Black children have likely lost parents Researchers don’t precisely know the number of children in the United States who have lost a parent to Covid-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collects data on who has died of Covid-19, but not the survivors they leave behind. (And though these estimates aren’t international, we can assume that with more than 3 million confirmed Covid-19 deaths around the world — certainly an undercount — many tens of thousands of children outside the US have lost parents, too.) But, they do estimate there are some racial disparities among the orphaned children in the US.
