COVID-19 Exposures, Related Stressors, and the Health and Well-Being of U.S. Parents

With the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020, U.S. parents faced new challenges in balancing work and family life while also navigating concerns about infection and disease prevention. In this study, we examine how exposure to COVID-19 and varying stressors during the pandemic shaped the health and well-being of U.S. parents. We use five waves of data collected between 2020 and 2023 from the Study on U.S. Parents’ Divisions of Labor during COVID-19. Growth curve model results show that COVID-19 infection per se does not significantly predict stress levels or depressive symptoms, although there is some evidence that recent COVID-19 infection is associated with declines in subjective health. But, work and family circumstances, both pre-pandemic and during the pandemic, apparently have a significant secondary impact on each health and well-being outcome. Finally, we find that the effects of certain work and family stressors vary by gender. These findings underscore the heterogeneous nature of pandemic experiences and highlight how the COVID-19 crisis may have shaped mothers’ and fathers’ health and well-being in distinct ways.