First Focus on Children submitted the following comment to the Office of Management and Budget.
Excerpt:
The coronavirus pandemic has hit the United States and the rest of the world with a once-in-a-generation event creating uncertainty, instability, and harm that will hold for years to come. Many researchers and policymakers have focused on the economic impacts of the crisis, but more emphasis is needed on how the crisis is impacting our most vulnerable population – our nation’s children. Millions of children have seen a disruption in their education, lost access to nutritious meals, face housing insecurity, or are at risk of slipping into poverty because of the economic crisis. To make matters even worse, the long-term implications of this crisis will likely last well beyond the coronavirus itself, impacting the health and development of children for years to come. It is incredibly important that we continue to monitor the havoc caused by the situation and put forward solutions in real-time to these problems.
Our organization has found the survey data to be helpful in developing our policy and budget analyses during the pandemic, and we are appreciative that the Census Household Pulse Survey has put a necessary spotlight on one aspect that traditional survey measures neglect: how children are faring. While the Current Population Survey (CPS) provides a vital resource for researchers and advocates to understand Americans’ situations, the CPS lags at too slow of a pace for it to be helpful in the middle of an unprecedented crisis like the one we face now and often focuses too much on the broadest view of the population as a whole.