COVID-19 Impact on Employment and Food Security of Single Black Mothers

Purpose: To examine the effects of the pandemic on single black mothers as it relates to unemployment and food insecurity based on survey responses before and during the pandemic. Background: During the pandemic, households with children saw significant rises in food insecurity, with 14.8% of households with children experiencing food insecurity. African Americans felt the effects of the pandemic to an even greater extent with 3 in 10 black households with children experiencing food insecurity. Unemployment also reached unprecedented rates during the pandemic with women and African Americans experiencing higher rates than other groups. The intersectionality of being African American and female put single, black mothers in an even more vulnerable position during the pandemic. Methods: The study is a sub-study of a larger study titled WAGE$, which examines the effect of the minimum wage ordinance in Minneapolis, MN and used Raleigh, NC as the control site. Data was collected through online surveys. The inclusion criteria for our study was being female and African American, and in a single parent household. A McNemar’s test was used to determine significant change between Time 2 (before the pandemic) and Time 3 (during the pandemic). Fisher’s Exact Test was used to determine significant associations between key variables. Results: Unemployment between Time 2 and Time 3 saw a significant change (p = 0.0002278). Food insecurity between Time 2 and Time 3 did not see a significant change. A significant positive association was found between being food insecure and using SNAP benefits (OR = 10.9, p = 0.00285). No significant association was found between food insecurity and unemployment (p = 0.7125). Conclusion: Major findings of the study were that unemployment increased significantly among single, black mothers and this is likely explained by the type of jobs they typically held and their positions as primary caregivers. Food insecurity surprisingly saw a decrease and this can be explained by the increase in unemployment benefits as well as COVID relief checks distributed by the government. The strong association between food insecurity and SNAP use indicates that the government program is not providing sufficient aid to improve food security in vulnerable households.Bachelor of Science in Public Healt