Households with children are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ina Cernusca is the project director for North Dakota Compass and a research specialist within the Center for Social Research. With extensive experience in market and social research, she has participated in many projects that involved quantitative and qualitative research, grant writing, project management, and outreach/extension activities. Born and raised in Romania, Ina moved to the United States in 2001 with her family. Ina earned her MBA from the University of Missouri, in Columbia, MO, and worked as a marketing research specialist with the Center for Agroforestry at the University of Missouri prior to moving to North Dakota.
In this article, Ina highlights a new study and new data products developed by North Dakota Compass and the Center for Social Research at NDSU.
North Dakota communities and organizations need now more than ever, access to reliable and vetted data in context, to help them identify, plan, and respond to the wide-ranging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recently, the Center for Social Research at NDSU analyzed the Household Pulse Survey microdata to examine impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on North Dakota households with children. Findings suggest that households with children are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic:
The Household Pulse Survey, a unique and novel survey, measures the impact of COVID-19 on employment status, food security, housing, education, and physical and mental wellness. This survey was designed to be as comprehensive as possible, administered quickly, and provide data in near real-time. While the data have some limitations due to online administration and lower response rates, benefits are notable since the survey produces near real-time data to help measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on households. Data collection for the Household Pulse Survey began on April 23, 2020 and was conducted in three phases: Phase 1 (April 23 – July 21, 2020), Phase 2 (August 19 – October 25, 2020) and Phase 3 (October 28, 2020 – March 1st, 2021). Survey data are released through an interactive data tool, tables, and microdata. The Household Pulse Survey Interactive Tool provides a visual representation of all the measures for the U.S., each of the 50 states and D.C., and for the 15 largest metropolitan statistical areas. Data tables in Excel for each week of release are available for download. In addition, microdata files are available to create custom tabulations and allow users to delve further into the rich data collected in the Household Pulse Survey.
To visualize the results of the study on the impact of COVID-19 on households with children, North Dakota Compass is supplementing its usual data offerings with a series of dashboards. The dashboards report selected effects of COVID-19 on North Dakota households related to household economics, food insufficiency, mental health, health care, and education based on data collected in Phase 1 and Phase 2. Results can be viewed overall or by phase.