Parents' employment, income, and finances before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic

• Published date: 01 March 2022
• Author: Selena T. Garrison,Shelli D. Rampold,Katherine Vasquez,Martie Gillen,Lauri M. Baker
• Date: 01 March 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12443

SPECIAL ISSUE

Parents' employment, income, and finances

before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Selena T. Garrison

1

| Shelli D. Rampold

2

|KatherineVasquez

1

|

Martie Gillen

1

| Lauri M. Baker

2

1

Department of Family, Youth and

Community Sciences, College of

Agricultural and Life Sciences, University

of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

2

Center for Public Issues Education in

Agriculture and Natural Resources,

University of Florida, Gainesville,

Florida, USA

Correspondence

Selena T. Garrison, Department of

Family, Youth and Community Sciences,

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences,

University of Florida, PO Box 110310,

Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.

Email: selenah@ufl.edu

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought grave financial concerns

for families in the United States as they attempted to

navigate the multifaceted impacts of the pandemic. The

present descriptive study examined Florida families'

employment characteristics, credit card debt, savings char-

acteristics, use of savings based on employment and

income variables, and patterns of use of the first 2020

economic impact payment during the early stages of the

COVID-19 pandemic. Responses to an online question-

naire were collected from 526 Florida residents, age 18 or

older, who were parents of minor children during the time

the study was conducted. Findings are indicative of vary-

ing financial impacts on families based on gender, marital

status, income level, and employment status related to

COVID-19. Implications are presented for employers,

educators, researchers, policymakers, and families.

KEYWORDS

COVID-19, credit, employment, income, saving, stimulus use

1|LITERATURE REVIEW

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in late 2019 and quickly spread across

populations, causing severe respiratory illness, and complications (Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention [CDC], 2020). By March 2020, the United States declared a national emergency

and the World Health Organization (WHO) officially characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic

Received: 15 November 2020 Revised: 17 December 2021 Accepted: 8 January 2022

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12443

© 2022 American Council on Consumer Interests.

276 J Consum Aff. 2022;56:276–291.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca

(WHO, 2020). Stay at home orders, business and school closures, and economic disruptions

brought grave financial concerns for families in the United States as they attempted to navigate

the multifaceted impacts of the pandemic.

1.1 |Employment

The novel coronavirus pandemic uprooted the lives of American families and debilitated the

national economy. By April 2020, the unemployment rate had increased from 4.4% to 14.7%, which

was the highest rate since U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data collection began (BLS, 2020c).

This increase in the national unemployment rate equates to over 23 million Americans out of work.

Other workers saw reduced hours or furloughs. BLS (2020a) further reported average workweek

declines including 2.1 h for manufacturing and 1.3 h for construction.

Previous research has suggested unemployed and insecurely employed individuals experi-

ence increased negative mental health outcomes such as stress, anxiety, and depression

(Mantler et al., 2005). Unemployment and employment uncertainty can also negatively impact

other health outcomes, including increased risk for cardiovascular disease and suicide (Jin

et al., 1995).

Emerging pandemic research has set out to illustrate the impacts of COVID-19 employment

uncertainty. The limited early COVID-19 employment research has focused on identifying

groups vulnerable to pandemic employment changes. Moen et al. (2020) found that young

adults, that is, those in their 20s, without a college degree were at the greatest risk of unemploy-

ment during the pandemic. The employment vulnerability of young adults complements the

nearly 47% job loss in the leisure and hospitality industry reported for April 2020 (BLS, 2020a).

Further, Collins et al. (2020) examined gender differences in COVID-19 employment and found

a gender gap in pandemic weekly work hours as women were working less hours in response to

lockdown school closures. In fact, single mothers were more likely to experience unemploy-

ment during the pandemic compared to those who had another working-age adult in the house-

hold (Heggeness et al., 2021).

1.2 |Income

BLS (2020b) reported more than a 7% increase to the national average for hourly wages in the

12-month period ending April 2020. This statistic reflects the pandemic-related loss of low

wage jobs, rather than an increase to household income levels. Similarly, personal income

rose over 10% (1.97 trillion dollars) from March 2020 to April 2020 in response to the release

of increased unemployment benefits and economic impact stimulus payments (U.S. Bureau of

Economic Analysis, 2020a). The rise in personal income disguises the decrease in personal

income from February 2020 to March 2020 of $413.8 billion dollars at the start of the COVID-

19 lockdown.

1.3 |Credit use

The U.S. Federal Reserve reported that outstanding credit card balances dropped 36 billion dol-

lars in April 2020. New credit purchases declined sharply in April 2020, but began to recover

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