A study in 2021 showed that more than 140,000 children in the U.S. experienced loss of a loved one due to COVID, and nine families are left behind for every person killed. These families are grieving close family members; hence their deaths have a broader reach, as per KHN.
As the U.S. approaches one million deaths from COVID, the nation has yet to reckon with the effects of losses, according to Debra Furr Holden, an epidemiologist at Michigan State University. She studies the impact of the pandemic.
Living with loss
Christina Summers lost her husband to COVID. She was 36 at the time of her husband, James Summer's death. Now, she had to raise their nine children on her own. Summers described her husband as an optimist, funny, and would always put his family first. He was always there for his kids.
Their children, five boys and four girls, ranging from six to 17, were all close to their father. Upon losing James, she admitted that they were all struggling with it. Her middle-school children were scared to go back to school, lest they catch COVID. Her 16-year-old son became withdrawn, while her six-year-old daughter thought her father would return. Being scared of going back to school is a heightened vigilance that experts observed to be common among children who have lost a parent.
James was the family's breadwinner, while Christina stayed home with the kids. Christina admitted that finances are tight now, but they are surviving on savings and the disability of her 15-year-old son, who has autism. Christina does not drive, and the family car was repossessed, as per NPR.
Summer said it was challenging because hardly any income was coming in, and she needed to get things together to start her life again.
Other families were also upended. Families who also lost their breadwinners had to move out of their homes because they could not pay their rent. Some had to move in with family, and folks had to live in transitional housing, whether a hotel room or a car.
Surviving grief
For Summers, it is a struggle for all of them to get through each day because they are still grieving.
She has been trying to find counseling for the kids, but they have had no luck so far. Since the pandemic, counseling demand has been so high that the wait for therapy can take months. She is also busy navigating the bureaucracy to secure Social Security survivor benefits and other resources for her kids.
Repercussions on mental and physical health
As per Debra Umberson, a sociologist at the University of Texas at Austin, the effects of COVID on bereaved families are not limited to financial concerns. The grief of losing a loved one has profound repercussions on mental health. A person in distress may experience anxiety or depression that can affect someone for years. These effects can also impact physical health, such as cardiovascular health, mortality risk, and dementia risk.
Children, on the other hand, would have difficulty coping with education.
As per studies by Ashton Verdery, a sociologist and demographer at Penn State, children whose caregivers or parents died of COVID would be more likely to drop out of high school and are less likely to pursue college.
Verdery said that losing a parent "is very consequential for the child's educational trajectory."
The U.S. recorded 998,000 deaths due to COVID-19 as of May 15, 2022, the New York Times reported.
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