Campus Closures & Working Parents
From the University of Massachusetts to Cal State Long Beach, colleges are cancelling classes or moving them online due to the coronavirus. Health experts predict there will be many more to come.
These disruptions are upending the lives of all affected students, especially the nation’s most vulnerable student populations: single parents and those with demonstrably insufficient food and housing.
More than one in five undergraduate students had dependent children themselves in 2016, and 14 percent were single parents, according to a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. In addition, students with children face substantially more food insecurity and housing insecurity, according to the 2019 #Real College survey.
Of America’s 1.7 million students who are single mothers, nearly 90 percent are living in or near poverty, according to a new study from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR).
“Just under two thirds of single mothers in college work 20 or more hours each week while enrolled,” says the study’s director, Lindsey Reichlin Cruse. “For those working in the service industry or others that may see disruptions in business [from the coronavirus], it may be particularly detrimental to single mothers’ ability to meet their families’ basic needs, such as paying utilities or rent bills, buying food, and certainly paying for child care.”
Anything that threatens a single parent’s ability to earn can have serious consequences for them—such as dropping out of school in order to work more—or their children—who may be faced with hunger or other disruptions for prolonged periods of time. Moreover, if a child’s school closes and she receives free or reduced-price lunch, her parent may face additional pressure to pay for more meals than before. And a parent who previously relied on the campus food pantry for groceries faces yet another barrier to her family’s health and wellbeing.
Information, access, support—and flexibility
“In general, flexibility is going to be essential,” says Reichlin Cruse. “It’s always important for student parents and single moms, but now as they face increasing pressure on their time and finances, understanding and flexibility will be important to acknowledge these pressures and to not force single moms to choose between keeping their families safe and healthy and going to school.”
Reichlin Cruse and her colleagues suggest some ways to reach out:
Ensure that all students can stay connected. Partner with internet providers so that students have reliable internet access through discounted packages, increasing parents’ ability to work and take classes remotely.
Keep communication lines open. Provide supportive information on topics ranging from emergency services to what to do if they or their child gets sick.
Use technology to offer additional support. Institutions with already-strong counseling programs may be able to provide enhanced group and individual support through video or phone conferencing and advising, helping single parents navigate uncertainty and fill gaps created by school and childcare closures.
Access to emergency childcare thus becomes even more important under these circumstances. “If single moms lose their childcare arrangement as the result of campuses closing, this could jeopardize their ability to attend class at all, let alone remotely,” says Reichlin Cruse. “You need childcare even when you are taking an online class or studying at home.”
Closing campus childcare centers could also threaten parent students’ ability to earn an income if they don’t have anywhere for their child or children to go when they are working.
Reichlin Cruse and her colleagues recommend that colleges consider establishing emergency aid to students that could include transportation if their back-up childcare is not easily accessed and distributing care packages to families who rely on food pantries and free diaper banks.
Just-released guidelines from Temple University’s Hope Center say that “now is the moment to deploy an emergency aid fund that is as minimally invasive and burdensome as possible,” ideally administered through an online application and distribution system.
But there is some good news in all of this.
“Meeting students where they are and considering their holistic needs is a growing value within higher education,” says Reichlin Cruse, “and it will be increasingly vital to the population of single mother students as the effects of COVID-19 continue to emerge.”
Here’s the December 2019 Institute for Women’s Policy Research report: “Investing in Single Mothers’ Higher Education.”
Access the U.S. Government Accountability Office report: “Food Insecurity: Better Information Could Help Eligible College Students Access Federal Food Assistance Benefits.”
Check out the #Real College survey and the Hope Center “Beyond the Food Pantry” guidelines.