Student and Parental Job Loss During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Effects on Household Economic Security

Background

While studies have examined effects of parental job loss early in the COVID-19 pandemic, few have assessed economic impacts of student job loss.

Methods

The Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) was a one-time online, nationally-representative survey administered by CDC in 2021 to understand high school students' experiences. We assessed associations between student, parent, and dyadic employment experiences and two measures of economic stress: housing instability and food insufficiency.

Results

Parental job loss was common and associated with both adverse economic outcomes. The adjusted prevalence rate (aPR) for housing instability was 2.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.73–4.51. A new finding is that student employment may also play a role in food sufficiency. Student job loss was significantly associated with both any food insufficiency and frequent food insufficiency (aPR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.35–1.93 and aPR = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.43–2.70, respectively).

Discussion

Analysis of associations between employment status before and during the COVID-19 public health emergency and measures of household economic insecurity reveals social safety net gaps. Our finding that student employment may affect household food sufficiency highlights the need to better understand the role of student employment in household economic stress.