Survey Results

Summary

Evolving Social Needs of Families During the Early Pandemic

Examining the first 10 weeks of results, we found: 

  • Over half of families with children reported unmet health or social service needs during the first month of a county-wide COVID-19 stay-at-home order. 
  • Unmet need for food and financial assistance peaked early during the stay-at-home order, while unmet need for mental health care rose later. 
  • Unmet need for food assistance varied significantly by race and ethnicity and by household prepandemic income.
  • These results were shared with community partners as they became available and published.

Social Needs Graphs

Unmet Need for Dental Care Among Children During the Pandemic

Examining responses during the week of June 25-July 2, 2020, we found:

  • Caregivers reported that the greatest unmet child health care need during summer 2020  was unmet dental care needs (16%).
  • 3 times as many households reported unmet need for dental care for a child compared with unmet need for medical care.  
  • Unmet need for child dental care was more common among families also experiencing pandemic-related household job or income loss. 
  • These results were shared with community partners when the results were available and published.

Dental Result Summary

This work was led by Jackie Burgette, DMD, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine. 

Factors Associated with Unmet Mental Health Needs among Families with Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Examining results from week 14, we found that families with unmet mental health needs during the pandemic had poorer parental and child wellbeing compared to families with met mental health needs. Barriers to meeting mental health needs must be addressed to provide families access to essential mental health care.

  • Thirty-nine percent of families identified a need for mental health services in the family a quarter of which went unmet. 
  • The most common barriers to accessing mental health care were problems finding a mental health provider who was a good fit and a lack of available appointments
  • Families with unmet mental health needs reported poorer parent wellbeing and a greater difficulty meeting their child’s social-emotional, physical, and academic needs compared to families with met mental health needs

Percent of respondents responding “completely” to child wellbeing items by mental health need. Items with non-significant findings omitted to reduce clutter. Significant differences between groups denoted by asterisks. *p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001.Figure 1. Percent of respondents responding “completely” to child wellbeing items by mental health need. Items with non-significant findings omitted to reduce clutter. Significant differences between groups denoted by asterisks. *p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001.

Parental Income Moderates the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Parent and Child Sleep

Examining results from one week of FSS data in August 2020, we found that parental ability to manage emotional health during the pandemic is associated with sleep among themselves and their children.

  • Poor sleep is a consequence of acute and chronic stressors, which the COVID-19 pandemic may be. Yet the association of parents’ ability to care for themselves and their children during the pandemic (“thriving”) with their own sleep and their child’s sleep is not known. Nor is it known whether these associations differ by race, age, or socioeconomic status. This is important given the known inequities in poor sleep and the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  • We found that parental ability to manage emotional health is associated with longer sleep duration for themselves and their children during the pandemic. 
  • The association of parent thriving during the pandemic and child wake-up time differed by parental pre-pandemic income, such that among low-income families, child wake time was earlier in families with increased levels of parental thriving. In middle income families, child wake up time was later in families with increased levels of parent thriving. Child wake up time did not change for high income families across levels of thriving. 

Sleep Results SummaryThis work was led by Jessica Levenson, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, and affiliate of Pitt's Center for Sleep and Circadian Science (CSCS).

Parent-Reported Intention to Vaccinate Children Against COVID-19: Influences of COVID-19 and Seasonal Influenza Vaccination

Timeline: March 1, 2021 – March 31, 2021

  • Parents that intended to receive or had received the COVID-19 vaccine also intended to vaccinate their children
  • Children that had received the seasonal influenza vaccine were more likely to have parents express intention to vaccinate the child against COVID-19
  • Public health messaging campaigns should address both seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccines for children
  • Addressing/discussing parents’ concerns about the vaccines may improve intention to vaccinate children

These results were shared with community partners when the results were available, and published results are available.

Frequency of COVID and Seasonal Flu Vaccine Intentions and Odds of Pediatric Vaccine Intention by Adult Vaccine IntentionThis work was led by Ashley Hill, DrPH, MPH, of Pitt Public Health.

Thank you again to all of you who shared experiences during the 18 months of the Family Strengths Survey, allowing us to share family needs, experiences, and strengths on with community partners to guide pandemic response. 

Prior Weekly Survey Results

December 2020 Results
Here are results from December 2020. This month we’re sharing responses about plans for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. We started asking this question over the summer, with a declining percentage of parents starting a plan to “definitely get the vaccine” over the summer and fall. However, in November and December, we see increasing percentages of families stating an intention to “definitely get the vaccine.” In December, 39% of respondents said they would “definitely” get the vaccine, and 30% said they would “probably” get the vaccine.
 

We also asked about plans for the vaccine for their children. In December, 29% of respondents said they would “definitely” get the vaccine for their children and 34% said they would “probably” get the vaccine for their children.

Please share how your family is doing this month through the Family Strengths Survey

Week 25 Results

Here are results from the week of 9/18-9/24/2020. This week, we are sharing families experiences with supporting their children and with unmet need across families with varying prepandemic income levels.

Here is how families with different pre-pandemic income levels report doing this past week in terms of helping their children in different areas:

And here is the percent of respondents whose families need more of specific resources in the coming week:

Resources to help your family during this time are included on the resource page.

Week 24 Results
Here are results from the week of 9/11-9/17/2020. Here we are sharing responses about potentially accepting a COVID-19 vaccine for oneself and one’s children.
 

And here is what families have said about what feels safe over the last several weeks.

Week 23 Results

Here are results from the week of 9/4-9/10/2020. This week, we asked questions about work and childcare.

Most respondents (85%) reported watching their children over the past week, but an increasing number reported other parents, other adult relatives, or childcare facilities providing childcare in the past week.

We asked about changes in employment since the pandemic started. Over half or respondents had changed their job, hours, or location since the pandemic began:

Finally, we asked about current work experiences.

  • Approximately two-thirds of respondents agreed that their employer had done everything possible to protect them from COVID-19.
  • 45% of respondents thought their job would be negatively impacted if they tested positive for COVID-19.
  • Only 40% reported no fear of being infected with COVID-19 at work.

Resources to help your family during this time are included on the resource page.

Week 22 Results

Here are results from the week of 8/28-9/3/2020. This week, we asked questions about school as regional schools reopened.

Week 21 Results

Here are results from the week of 8/21-8/27/2020. This week, we asked questions about food needs.

  • 15% of families reported they sometimes or always worried food would run out before they had money to buy more.
  • 12% of families reported the food they bought didn’t last, and they didn’t have money to get more.
  • 25% of families reported they were not always able to afford nutritious meals.

We also asked about difficulty enrolling or receiving food and financial assistance.

  • 12% reported difficulty receiving unemployment compensation or pandemic unemployment assistance
  • 4% reported difficulty enrolling in SNAP
  • 2% reported difficulty enrolling in WIC
  • 2% reported difficulty receiving food distributed through schools

Food and financial assistance are included on the resource page.

Week 20 Results

Here are results from the week of 8/15-8/20/2020. This week, we asked questions about sleep.

We asked respondents how much sleep they are getting on an average weeknight, and how much sleep their oldest child is getting on an average weeknight.

Additionally:

  • Average bedtime for infants and toddlers was 8:03pm, for preschoolers was 8:34pm, for school age was 9:22pm, for adolescents was 11:39pm, and for young adults was 12:00am.
  • Average wake up time for infants and toddlers was 7:37am, for preschoolers was 8:04 am, for school age was 8:05am, for adolescents was 9:20am, and for young adults 8:02am.

Resources related to meditation, relaxation, and sleep are included on the resource page.

Week 19 Results

Here are results from the week of 8/7-8/13/2020. This week, we asked questions about housing.

We asked respondents if they are worried about losing their housing at this point in the pandemic. 14% of individuals with income under $50,000 said they were worried about losing their housing.

Additionally: 

  • Only 69% of those renting their home said they had been able to keep ip with their mortgage, compared to 90% of homeowners said they have been able to keep up with their mortgage
  • 61% of those renting their home said they had been able to keep up with utility payments, compared to 93% of homeowners.
  • 8% of those renting their home and 6% of those owning their home said they had more than the usual number of people living in their home.

Resources related to housing and financial support are available on the resource page.

Week 18 Results

Here are results from the week of 7/31-8/6/2020. This week, we added questions to precautions families are currently taking related to COVID-19

First, here is what families have said feels safe over the last 10 weeks as counties in the region moved from yellow to green phases, and subsequently saw a resurgence and decline of cases.

In addition to asking what feels safe, we asked what respondents have actually done in the last 7 days:

  • 46% of respondents reporting close contact (within 6 feet) of someone they do not live with without wearing a mask
  • 22% reported attending a gathering with more than 10 people
  • 19% reported they had gone to a restaurant, bar, club, or other place where people gather
  • 10% had traveled out of state
  • 76% reported they had worked at home as much as possible

We asked additional questions about wearing masks:

  • 98% said they had masks for everyone in their family who needs one
  • 96% of those with children over 2 years old reported their children had worn masks

72% said they were confident or very confident that they were wearing masks in a way that was protective

Finally, we asked over the last several weeks about intention to receive a coronavirus vaccine when it is available.

This week, we are asking more in-depth questions about housing, and hope you will share your family’s thoughts and plans.  

Information on coronavirus and testing as well as resources to help with food, finances, mental health, learning and fun are here.

Please share how your family is doing this week through the Family Strengths Survey.

Week 17 Results

Here are results from the week of 7/24-7/30/2020. This week, we added questions to understand family’s experiences preparing for return to school this fall.

First, we asked what families currently expect for the fall.

We also asked how sure families are about their current plans for the fall.

And we asked about confidence in school districts to provide the best options for children this fall.

Finally, we asked how likely it was that plans for the fall would meet children's educational/academic, social/emotional, health/safety needs and parent’s work obligations.

This week, we are asking more in-depth questions about housing, and hope you will share your family’s thoughts and plans.  

Resources to help with food, finances, mental health, learning and fun are here.

Please share how your family is doing this week through the Family Strengths Survey.

Week 16 Results

Here are results from the week of 7/17-7/23/2020. This week, we added questions to understand family’s religious and spiritual lives at this point during the pandemic. 

When asked how important religious faith is in shaping daily life, 29% of respondents said extremely or very important and another 29% said somewhat important.

We asked about frequency of prayer, meditation, religious services, or events with religious community (in-person or virtual) over the last month. 

30% of families said they are attending religious services and events less than they did before the pandemic, while 68% report attending services and events at the same frequency as previously. 

Frequency of prayer, meditation, religious services, or events with religious community (in-person or virtual) over the last month:

Week 16 Results-Image 1

 And we also asked about specific feelings or sensations over the past month, with these results: 

Week 16 Results-Image 2

This week, we are asking more in-depth questions about planning for the upcoming school year, and hope you will share your family’s thoughts and plans.  

Access resources to help with food, finances, mental health, learning and fun.

Please share how your family is doing this week through the Family Strengths Survey.

Week 15 Results

Here are results from the week of 7/10-7/16/2020.

Every week we ask families what they need more help within the coming week. Here are results to this question from the past week, based on each family’s household income before the pandemic started: 

Among households with pre-pandemic income less than $50,000/year, 1 in 3 need more help with food assistance and about 1 in 4 need more help with financial support for utilities and more help with mental health services. 

Access resources to help with food, finances, and mental health. 

Every week we also ask families whether they were able to do the following things as much as they wanted to for their children. 

Across the full group of respondents, families reported the greatest difficulty helping their children be well-adjusted socially, mentally, and emotionally and staying connected with community.  

The percent of families answering “completely” to these items also varied with household pre-pandemic income. 

Families continue to need support in helping their children thrive during this time. Review resources to help with food, finances, mental health, learning and fun.

Please share how your family is doing this week through the Family Strengths Survey.

Week 14 Results

Here are results from the week of 7/3-7/9/2020.

This week we asked how much families agree with Gov. Wolf’s mandate for masks, with most strongly agreeing:

 

We also asked how likely people are to take action when people are not being safe with masking or other public health measures:

 

We also asked more about experience with mental health care over the past three months:

 

And among those with unmet need for mental health care, what barriers they encountered:

Resources to help families with needs, including accessing mental health care, are here. And if you haven’t yet shared how your family is doing this week, please let us know through the Family Strengths Survey.

Week 13 Results

Here are results from the week of 6/26-7/2/2020.

This week we asked families whether their child had needed but not received health care at any time in the past 3 months. 20% of families said their child had missed needed health care. Among those families that said their child had missed needed health care, here is what the children had missed:

Resources to help families with needs, including accessing health care, are here. And if you haven’t yet shared how your family is doing this week, please let us know through the Family Strengths Survey.

Week 12 Results

Here are results from the last week (6/19-6/25/2020).

Over the last 12 weeks, respondents have generally reported decreasing ability to get the information they and their families need about COVID-19, with less than 60% of families feeling that they could “completely” get the information they need.

In the past week, 44% of families felt they could “completely” protect their family from getting COVID-19, and 65% felt “completely” able to get help if someone in the family had symptoms of COVID-19.

 

While around 50% of families have confidence in their ability to get tested if they have symptoms of COVID-19, around a quarter of families report they don’t know  where to go for testing and are not sure they would be given a test. Information on coronavirus and on testing sites is available here.

Respondents who have experience seeking testing have been relatively similar over the last 3 weeks:

 

Finally, here is what families said felt safe to them in the coming week over the last 5 weeks:

 

Sites with reliable COVID-19 information and resources to help families with needs (from food assistance to mental health to fun and learning and discussing racism) are here. And if you haven’t yet shared how your family is doing this week, please let us know through the Family Strengths Survey.

Week 11 Results

Here are results from the last week (6/12-6/18/2020).

Now in our second week in green phase, few respondents reported using group childcare, with most dividing care between themselves and other family members.

 

Looking specifically at respondents from Allegheny County over the past 11 weeks as we have moved from red to yellow to green, the greatest unmet need reported in the current week is for financial assistance (including unemployment, cash assistance, assistance with utility bills).

 

Looking specifically at respondents from Allegheny County over the past 11 weeks as the county has moved from red to yellow to green, respondents reported improved ability to support their children in many areas over the past two weeks, but also reported reduced ability to protect children from racism and inequality compared to earlier during the pandemic.

 

Resources to help families with needs (from food assistance to mental health to fun and learning and discussing racism) are here. And if you haven’t yet shared how your family is doing this week, please let us know through the Family Strengths Survey.

 

Week 10 Results

New items over the last week asked about how families about access to COVID-19 testing and medical care. Here are results from the last week (6/5-6/11/2020).

Among participants this past week, most had not tried to get tested for COVID-19 (84%). About 12% reported they had received testing at some point over the last few months, and 4% reported they tried to get testing but were not able to at some point during the pandemic.

We asked participants if they had any concerns about being able to get tested for COVID-19 now if they had symptoms or were worried they had COVID-19.

  • 52% said they had no concerns
  • 28% expressed concern that they might not be given a test if they asked for it
  • 21% said they did not know where to go for testing
  • 6% expressed concerns about affording testing
  • 16% said they weren’t sure if the test was reliable

COVID-19 testing is now available at more sites, including many Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) – to find closest location and hours, see the Allegheny County Testing Site Locator here.

 

Finally, we added questions this week inquiring about racism in our region, asking how often respondents feel that non-white racial/ethnic groups are discriminated against in both neighborhoods and workplaces.

  • 33% responded “never” or “rarely”
  • 44% responded “sometimes”
  • 22% responded “often”

Resources for talking with children and youths about racism are available here on the Family Strengths Resource website.

Week 9 Results

Newer items over the last week asked about how families are making decisions about what is safe as the county moves from red to yellow to green. Here are results from the last week (5/29-6/4).

First, we asked families what has changed for them since the move to the yellow zone on 5/15:

 

We also asked what feels safe for the upcoming week:

 

And we asked where families go for information during the pandemic:

 

Finally, here’s how families say they are doing over the last 9 weeks, with the darkest red line representing the percentage of families reporting they are “completely” able to do each item in the past week.

Compared to prior weeks, fewer families responded that they are “completely” able to find ways for their children to have fun and play (40%), keep children connected to community (28%), and protect their children from inequality, racism, prejudice, or exclusion from resources (66%) in the past week.

 

Resources to help families with needs (from food assistance to mental health to fun and learning) are here. And if you haven’t yet shared how your family is doing this week, please let us know through the Family Strengths Survey.

Week 8 Results

As Allegheny County continues into the yellow phase, we asked families more about childcare in the coming weeks and months. Here is some of what families shared this past week (5/22-5/28):

About 1/3 of families with children 0-5 years old and ½ of families with children 6-12 years old said they did not plan to use childcare this summer.

Families identified a range of concerns about returning to childcare – here are results divided by household pre-pandemic income. Families of all incomes had concerns about children and other family members getting coronavirus. Families with lower income were more likely to have additional concerns, such as transportation, costs, and uncertain employment.

 

Additionally, we asked families with teenagers about their teenagers’ summer plans. For all families, concerns that their teens will be bored was the most common concern. Families with lower incomes were more likely to have additional concerns, such as loss of academic skills over the summer and lack of academic enrichment.

Resources to help families in Western Pennsylvania are here. And if you haven’t yet shared how your family is doing this week, please let us know here through the Family Strengths Survey.

Week 7 Results

This past week (5/15-5/21) started with the first day that Allegheny County moved from the red to yellow zone, so we’re recapping how families have been doing over the last 7 weeks.

We started with the few families feeling that they could help their children be well-adjusted socially, mentally, and emotionally; helping their children learn and be safely supervised; and staying connected with friends, family, religious community, and neighbors.

These areas have all improved over the last 7 weeks, but we are still seeing only half of families say that they can “completely” achieve these things for their children. Resources for families are here.

 

Need for specific resources has varied from week to week over the last 7 weeks, with the greatest single area of need being need for food assistance during early April. In more recent weeks, increasing percent of respondents reported needing childcare and mental health services. Resources for families are available here.

New questions this week go deeper into childcare and work, and also ask about sources of health information. Let us know how your family is doing this week, and share this link with other families.

Week 6 Results

As Allegheny County moves from the red to yellow zone, jobs and childcare are on our minds. Here is some of what we heard from families during the week of 5/8-5/14/2020 through the Family Strengths Survey.

First, some results showing how families are doing based on whether their family experienced pandemic-related job or income loss.

  • Families who lost a job or income due to the pandemic reported more difficulty keeping children fed and more difficulty with utilities and bills than those who did not experience job loss.
  • Families who lost a job or income due to the pandemic were more likely to feel “completely” able to help their children learn, keep their children feeling safe, happy, and loved, and finding ways to have fun and play inside or outside than families who had not experienced job loss, who may be balancing work and childcare responsibilities at the same time.
  • Over 20% of families without job loss and 30% of families with job/income loss reported difficulty keeping their children’s medical issues under control.
    • More details on accessing health care for children is available here.
    • More on addressing children’s mental health needs is here.

 

 

Families who experienced job or income loss reported unmet need for food and financial assistance. Families who did not experience job loss reported unmet need for childcare. In both groups of parents reported unmet need for mental health or behavioral health care.

More information on these topics are available in below

  • Information on accessing food is here.
  • More on care giver mental health needs is here.
  • For child mental health needs click here.

 

Finally, we asked families this week about their plans for using childcare in the coming months. This week, 9% of families indicated readiness to use childcare next week, 36% indicated they do not plan to use childcare during the coming months, and the remaining families indicated uncertainty or plans to use childcare a little farther in the future (next month, later in the summer, or when they go back to work).

Resources to help families in Western Pennsylvania are here. And if you haven’t yet shared how your family is doing this week, please let us know here through the Family Strengths Survey.

Week 5 Results

Here is some of what we learned in our fifth week (5/1-7, 2020):  

  • This week, we looked at family experiences during the past week based on their household income before the pandemic.
  • Families across all pre-pandemic household income levels reported similarly high rates of feeling “completely” able to help their children feel safe, happy, and loved.
  • Families with pre-pandemic incomes of <$50,000 were less likely to feel they were completely able to get food, keep their children housed with bills paid, or keep their children’s medical issues under control. Resources to help families with food, financial issues, or medical issues are listed here.

 

  • Caregivers across all pre-pandemic household income levels reported similarly low rates of feeling “completely” able to help themselves feel well-adjusted socially, mentally, and emotionally. Resources for mental health for caregivers and parents are here.

 

  • 1 out of 3 families with pre-pandemic household income <$50,000 reported needing more food assistance in the coming week.
  • Among families with pre-pandemic household income <$50,000, 1 in 4 reported needing more assistance with utilities, and 1 in 5 reported needing more unemployment benefits. Resources for families are available here.  

Finally, we revisited need for technology for family employment, school, and health care needs.

  • When we asked about this the week of 4/17-4/23/20
    • 8% of respondents said they did not have adequate internet in the prior week
    • 17% said they did not have adequate computers, tablets, or devices.
  • During the past week of 5/1-5/8/2020
    • 5% of respondents said they did not have adequate internet in the prior week
    • 11% said they did not have adequate computers tablets or devices.

Information on internet access is here.

 

Week 4 Results

Here is some of what we learned in our fourth week (April 24-30, 2020):  

  • This week, about 70% of families felt they could keep their children’s medical issues under control and 68% felt they could help their children feel safe, happy, and loved as much as they wanted. 
  • This week, less than 1 in 3 families felt they could support their children's social, mental and emotional well being as much as they wanted. Resources for children's mental health can be found here

 

 

  • This week more families felt they were able to get help if needed for symptoms of COVID-19 (60%). 
  • Less than 1 in 5 parents and caregivers felt they were able to care for their own mental, social, and emotional well-being as much as they would like.  Resources for parent and caregiver mental health can be found here

 

  • This week, we also looked at how whether families with needs for different resources were able to use at least some of that resource. Food assistance was the top need for families overall, and most of these families were able to access at least some food assistance. Child care stands out as the area where people had needs and were not able to access any resources to meet that need. In response, we added more questions on child care to the Family Strengths Survey this week.
  • More information on resources for families can be found here

Week 3 Results

Families continue to face new job loss and income loss in the last week. Resources related to financial resources can be found here. 

  4/17=4/23
(n=476)
Household member has experienced pandemic-related job loss or decreased income 227 (48%)
Household experienced job loss in last week 40 (8%)
Household experienced decrease income in last week 138 (29%)

 

While all children need access to internet and devices to complete their remote learning goals, 8% of households lacked adequate internet and 17% lacked adequate devices. 

  4/17-4/23
(n=476)
Household has adequate internet for family's work, school, and health needs 436 (92%)
Household has adequate computers/devices for family's work, school, and health needs 394 (83%)

 

Finally, families are increasingly reporting getting support from food assistance and unemployment benefits, but food assistance, unemployment benefits, and child care remained the top areas where families need still more help.