Racial Disparities in ECE Stability during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Pennsylvania
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Babbs Hollett, Karen
- Graduate Program:
- Educational Leadership
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- January 26, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Erica Frankenberg, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Ashley Patterson, Outside Unit Member
David Gamson, Outside Field Member
Kai Schafft, Major Field Member
Kevin Kinser, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- early care and education
early childhood education
Covid-19 pandemic
racial disparities
stability - Abstract:
- Stability in early care and education (ECE) is critical to children’s healthy development and school success. The Covid-19 pandemic caused widespread ECE closures that severely disrupted children’s education and care. In Pennsylvania, where ECE facility closures were mandatory, waivers exempting child care centers from closure directives were a key policy tool for enabling greater ECE stability. However, the waiver application process varied between Philadelphia County and other counties in Pennsylvania in ways that were more burdensome for Philadelphia-based child care centers. In this study, I examined racial/ethnic differences in children’s enrollment in waiver-obtaining (WO) child care centers and associations between waiver obtainment and administrative burden. I also estimated racial/ethnic disparities in ECE stability as a function of centers’ waiver obtainment status and the level of administrative burden they experienced. I found that Asian and Black children were significantly less likely than children of other races/ethnicities to be enrolled in WO centers, while White children were the most likely. Children whose centers experienced more administrative burden in the waiver application process (i.e., were located in Philadelphia) were far less likely to be enrolled in a WO center, a disparity that disproportionately harmed Black children. Differences in waiver obtainment had stark implications for children’s ECE stability – children enrolled in WO centers experienced significantly fewer weeks of closure, and significantly fewer instances of closure, than children in non-waiver-obtaining centers. Children whose centers encountered more administrative burden also experienced longer and more frequent closures than children whose centers encountered less burden. Temporary closure duration predicted permanent child care center closure, suggesting that children who experienced greater ECE instability in the short-term were also at greater risk of experiencing it in the long-term. These findings add to our understanding of the pandemic’s effects on children’s access to educational opportunities, and its disproportionate and negative effects on families of color in particular.