RAPID Survey Project

Utility companies have significantly increased rates over the past decade, and in May 2024, California lawmakers approved a flat increase in energy costs for all households that takes effect next year. RAPID asked California families with young children about their experiences of material hardship. We use data collected in April 2024 and August 2024 to better understand the hardship families are facing amid the backdrop of this statewide increase in utility costs. In August 2024, just three months after the new flat increase in utilities was approved, the majority of California parents (68%) report experiencing material hardship in at least one area of basic need. Of the California parents experiencing material hardship, more than a third (37%) specifically face difficulty paying for utilities, nearly double the percentage (19%) that RAPID reported just one year prior in July 2023. As California families receive utility bills that start to include the new flat increase, RAPID will continue to ask about their ability to meet basic needs, including affording utilities. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gthRCxMM

"Nearly half of California’s parents with children younger than 6 are experiencing material hardship, according to the RAPID Survey Project at Stanford’s Center on Early Childhood. These parents have difficulty paying for basic needs such as food, housing and medical care. Intuitively, Stanford’s research also finds that when caregivers can’t meet their family’s basic needs, their emotional distress increases. And when their emotional distress increases, so does the emotional distress of children. "But the good news is that help helps. Stanford’s research found that government financial relief during the pandemic reduced emotional distress for young families because they could afford essentials and pay their bills." https://lnkd.in/gcdDt_Qp

Another Stanford Center on Early Childhood #ECX Community Spotlight featuring the transformative #earlychildhood systems work happening in Memphis. https://lnkd.in/gUNYe_89. Thank you Mark Swartz and all those engaged in this inspiring work.

This statement from the Pediatric Academic Societies Maternal Child Health: First 1,000 Days Special Interest Group provides an overview of the rationale, evidence, and key action steps needed to engage Community Health Workers (CHWs) into team-based well-child care (WCC) for families in low-income communities. Integrating CHWs into early childhood WCC can allow for greater cultural relevancy for families, reduce the burden on clinicians to provide the wide range of WCC services, many of which do not require the expertise of a high-level clinician, and improve preventive care services to families during the vulnerable but critical period of early childhood. Co-authored by Dr. Lisa Chamberlain, Associate Director of the Stanford Center on Early Childhood, home of the RAPID Survey Project. https://lnkd.in/g3JbZwuA

The majority of Harris County, Texas, parents with young children report high levels of emotional distress. RAPID surveys ask parents with young children about their emotional well-being, and measures emotional distress as a composite of four experiences: stress, anxiety,?depression, and loneliness. RAPID survey data show that nearly two in three (64%) Harris County parents with young children report experiencing emotional distress. Of the parents who experience emotional distress symptoms, anxiety is the most prevalent symptom that parents experience (52%), followed closely by?stress (43%), loneliness (42%), and depression (37%). In other analyses, RAPID data has consistently shown a?chain reaction of hardship. That is, as parents’ experiences of hardship increase, they are also more likely to report emotional distress (higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness), which, in turn, is associated with an increase in emotional distress among their young?children. https://lnkd.in/gYuxbe44

Harris County's investment in early childhood includes funding for important research and data collection. Our participation in the RAPID Survey Project highlights the indisputable importance of child care for local families and the troubling conditions too many families with young children face. ?? More than one in three Harris County parents with young children rely on child care ? More than half of Harris County families with young children have difficulty meeting basic needs ? The majority of Harris County parents with young children report high levels of emotional distress

In the most-populated county in Texas, and home to the city of #Houston, more than half of families with young children have difficulty meeting basic needs. RAPID Survey Project lays out what they’ve learned from parents with children under age 6 in Harris County:

Every child deserves access to healthy food to help them grow up strong and well, but recent data from the RAPID Survey Project show that many parents and caregivers have been concerned about food security, especially since the pandemic. The good news? Strong nutrition policies can help. A new survey shows that in states with #UniversalSchoolMeals policies in place, families are experiencing lower rates of food insecurity. We know that a free school meals policy for all works on the state level—now, let’s implement that nationally! Explore other findings from RAPID on food security: https://lnkd.in/guC7nAad

In this new fact sheet, we lay out what we’ve learned from parents with children under age 6 in Harris County – the most-populated county in Texas and home to the city of Houston – about their experiences with child care, and family economic and emotional well-being. https://lnkd.in/gYMnzq4v

In this 2024 report, "The Care Burden Affects Us All: Assessing men's stake as caregivers in the United States", Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice shares insights and analysis on fathers and men’s reports of burdens and challenges related to caregiving, paid work, and financial planning.? https://lnkd.in/eg2x-mGG #VoteLikeADad #CareCantWait