Introduction
Since its emergence, COVID-19 has immensely impacted all areas of human life and wellness. Appearing as a serious concern more than 2 years ago, the virus has spread all around the world and become a daily consideration for most, causing a social and economic uproar of unprecedented magnitude. Despite stabilizing measures having taken place, and a number of vaccines being distributed, the COVID virus retains its status as a threat to people’s daily lives. As a result of the global pandemic, many aspects of society that were taken for granted were uprooted, bringing with them unforeseen circumstances. Economically, COVID has had one of the largest influences on the world in recent years. Imposing strict health regulations on most organizations, the appearance of an easily-spread virus has greatly affected companies and their workers. In particular, many organizations experienced a general inability to work, and layoffs became commonplace. For those that were able to keep their jobs, working still presented a challenge, with an increasing need to either switch to remote occupation or work in dangerous conditions.
Socioeconomic problems extend to the well-being and safety of children, as well. For many families living in poverty, COVID-19 presents a significant challenge to raising children. The financial pressure and added stress, along with limited access to support systems, put such kids uniquely at risk for suffering the economic impact of the pandemic (Herrenkohl et al., 2020). The problem is prevalent enough to warrant extended discussions about changing welfare programs and multiple efforts to design a better support network for the poor. Furthermore, COVID-19 has a profound impact on family dynamics and interactions. As highlighted by scholarly discussions, COVID-19 has been largely a time of turbulence and loss for many, with families experiencing shared sense of grief, trauma and uncertainty, often physically confined in a single space. Research on domestic abuse survivors shows that living in close proximity to their abuser for prolonged periods of time, without work or other concerns acting as mediators, has had a severe influence on their mental state. These and many other nuances of the pandemic are worth discussing because of their centrality in the society of today, along with the lack of appropriate research on the subject.
Focusing solely on the United States, COVID-19 has effectively exposed the inefficient reality of the healthcare system, caused an exceedingly large number of people to develop lifelong debilitating symptoms, and contributed to a change in workplace safety policies. However, this work will focus more on the social and familiar aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak, seeking to discuss the subject within the constraints of the family. In particular, the effect of COVID-19 on family dynamics and a family’s socio-economic status will be discussed. It is hypothesized that the conditions of the pandemic, along with the effects of the virus itself, have a severely negative impact on both a family’s financial stability and emotional well-being. The strain of the disease, both mental and economic, works to undermine the condition of the family unit, affecting both individuals and groups of people. Scholarly research on the subject will be considered in order to investigate the subject.
Influence of COVID-19
Effect on Socio-Economic Status
As a result of the pandemic, it became commonplace for families to lose their sources of income, relying on savings as a way to get by. Research shows that the job loss triggered by COVID-19 was more significant than any other in at least a decade. Unemployment rates for most people skyrocketed at the start of 2020, slowly going on a decline afterward (Saenz & Sparks, 2020). Notably, people of color and other minority groups were affected by this trend more severely than their white counterparts and subsequently experienced a slower recovery. The inability to secure a steady source of income is a serious problem for families, who must often care not only for themselves but for older adults and children. Having to live off of savings or other types of assisted income is especially challenging, as welfare programs in the United States are fairly restrictive. The slow drain of savings, together with a lowered capacity to receive a steady income, threatens families at a foundational level, impacting their socioeconomic stability. Furthermore, the lack of savings affects future growth, expansion and investment opportunities for many. People post-COVID-19 found themselves incapable of initiating house repairs, paying bills, and buying new cars or houses.
Effect on Family Dynamics and Relationships
Living under a constant threat of disease with severe consequences, not knowing whether their savings will be enough, worrying about other family members and other considerations chips away at the psyche of individuals, contributing to anxiety and depression. The families are often brought together not by security and happiness but by a shared sense of unease (Lebow, 2020). In addition, most individuals have been forced to live in close proximity to one another in a way that is distinctly different from usual forms of closeness.
The emotional connection is more forced than natural, often exacerbating already-existing problems within the family unit. Individual family units, through deep isolation from the outside world, are susceptible to conflicts and internal issues (Lebow, 2020). In extreme cases, such as families where domestic abuse occurs, the COVID-19 pandemic was conducive to a more negative lived experience. A study using an online survey found that most women who reported living in conditions of domestic abuse experienced a decline in their mental health (Sediri et al., 2020). The severity of both anxiety and depression was reported as increasing, likely a result of continued exposure to their abusers and a lack of mediators.
It is possible to counter the claims made by this paragraph by focusing on the ability of the pandemic to bring family members closer together. Compared to regular living conditions, COVID was able to uniquely influence families and their shared dynamics in a single space, acting as a catalyst for change. Presenting families with a forced set of circumstances, the virus has brought together individuals that often do not have enough time to spend with one another (Prime et al., 2020). As a result, it can be argued, families are capable of strengthening their bonds and spending more time together, which has a positive influence on family dynamics. In this way, the pandemic is seen as a tool for establishing stronger family bonds and building resilience.
While it would be difficult to deny the ability of the pandemic to bring people together, focusing on this aspect of the issue severely undermines the danger of the problems it presents. Health risks, anxiety and loss within the family unit still permeate the public discussions of COVID’s effects. The many potential benefits of bringing a family unit closer together are undercut by the virus’s health detriments. In addition, most present evidence finds that domestic violence is perpetuated by an inability to meet financial obligations and unescapable family ties, suggesting that prolonged confinement to a single space is a danger for many (Béland et al., 2020). Focus should remain solely on the negative side-effects of COVID, as other frameworks do not allow scholars to examine the realities of domestic abuse that it perpetuates.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that the pandemic and the COVID-19 virus as a whole have had an immensely negative impact on the family unit. Being capable of influencing all aspects of people’s lives, it quickly worked to deteriorate the economic, social and mental stability of families. Massive layoffs, loss of income, and job insecurity threatened the position of most families, limiting their opportunities for both survival and growth. For those living in poverty, the problem additionally threatened the mental and physical health of children, further being exaserbated by bad access to welfare. In terms of interpersonal relations and family dynamics, the pandemic has also had a similarly destabilizing effect. Most people experience a shared sense of trauma, loss of their loved ones, or general anxiety about the future. In other cases, victims of domestic abuse were subjected to living with their abusers, leading to a decline in mental health and wellness. Despite having the potential to provide families with the time to bond and create new memories, COVID-19 has had a largely negative impact that cannot be understated. Scholarly research on the subject is constantly expanding with the arrival of new statistical data. It is important to further study the potential effects of both COVID variants and long COVID on families as a tool to counteract the damage the recent two years have done.
References
Béland, L., Brodeur, A., Haddad, J., & Mikola, D. (2020). COVID-19, family stress and domestic violence: Remote work, isolation and bargaining power. SSRN Electronic Journal.
Herrenkohl, T. I., Scott, D., Higgins, D. J., Klika, J. B., & Lonne, B. (2020). How COVID-19 is placing vulnerable children at risk and why we need a different approach to child welfare. Child Maltreatment, 26(1), 9-16.
Lebow, J. L. (2020). Family in the age of COVID‐19. Family Process, 59(2), 309-312.
Prime, H., Wade, M., & Browne, D. T. (2020). Risk and resilience in family well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Psychologist, 75(5), 631-643.
Saenz, R., & Sparks, C. (2020). The inequities of job loss and recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Carsey School of Public Policy.
Sediri, S., Zgueb, Y., Ouanes, S., Ouali, U., Bourgou, S., Jomli, R., & Nacef, F. (2020). Women’s mental health: Acute impact of COVID-19 pandemic on domestic violence. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 23(6), 749-756.