West Virginia families are struggling. One in seven adults in the state struggle with hunger. One in five households with children in the state reported that the kids weren’t eating enough because the family struggled to afford food.
The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the growing need for child care, paid leave, and unemployment assistance, but many state and federal unemployment assistance and paid leave programs fail to account for the child care needs of working families. This project chronicles and analyzes state-by-state policies on the availability of wage replacements for workers without child care. The table lists policies on the availability of unemployment assistance and paid leave by state, including D.C. and territories, including definitions of school “closures” for regular and pandemic unemployment assistance eligibility, work search requirements, and working documentation of state paid leave programs.
The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated poverty, hardship, and racial and gender inequities in the United States. In the first months of the crisis, about a third of people in the United States reported difficulty paying rent, keeping food on the table, or getting medical care. This presentation, delivered during the National Head Start Association’s 2020 Fall Leadership Institute, highlights the devastating, disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on people experiencing poverty in the United States with a particular focus on communities of color.
An overdue reckoning is sweeping America. The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others have sparked a national conversation on police brutality and mass incarceration. As we grapple with these wounds, we must remember that structural racism damages these same communities every day without any damning videos, and without any guns drawn.