Start Date: July 2022

ID #: 283-5104

Principal Investigator: Lia Fernald, PhD, MBA

Co-Principal Investigator: Wendi Gosliner, DrPH, MPH

Organization: The Regents of the University of California

Funding Round: 2021 Special Solicitation on COVID-19 and Socioeconomic Recovery Efforts

See more related research

Share


This is a unique opportunity to assess the longitudinal impact of COVID-19 related relief and recovery policies and existing safety net supports among economically disadvantaged California families raising young children. The goals of this study are to 1) characterize participant’s awareness and understanding of COVID-19 related relief supports such as Pandemic EBT, free school meals, SNAP, charitable food programs, the child tax credit, and EITC; 2) identify barriers to uptake and receipt of relief; and 3) examine the impacts on outcomes including families’ financial stability, food access, food security status, physical and mental health, and housing stability.

Start Date: 9/1/2022

Related Research

August 2025

Lived Experiences of Families Navigating Safety Net Expansions and Retractions During the Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

This study aimed to understand the experiences of families with low income in California with pandemic safety net support expansions and retractions, including barriers to program access. Using open-ended questions, we explored the self-reported experiences of pandemic-era safety net expansions and expirations between January and June 2023 among a group of caregivers of young children More

June 2025

Take-up of the 2021 child tax credit expansion among disadvantaged households in California: Continuing barriers to health equity

In 2021 Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit (CTC), one of the largest US economic supports for working families with proven benefits for health. Information on CTC take-up among eligible families is lacking. Understanding barriers to anti-poverty programs is an urgent policy issue, as low take-up is an established barrier to health equity. Among a More

May 2025

Safety net program participation patterns, sociodemographic factors, and health: A latent transition analysis in a US cohort study

U.S. safety net programs provide critical support to Americans with low income. This cohort study examined patterns of safety net program take-up over time and associations with sociodemographics and health. Surveys among California households with low income (N=380) conducted in 2020-2021 and 2023 captured take-up of federal assistance programs (Medicaid; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP]; More

February 2024

Understanding Multiprogram Take-Up of Safety Net Programs Among California Families

The U.S. safety net, which provides critical aid to households with low income, is composed of a patchwork of separate programs, and many people with low income benefit from accessing <1 program. However, little is known about multiprogram take-up, that is, participation conditioned on eligibility. This study examined individual and multiprogram take-up patterns and sociodemographic More

December 2023

The association of safety-net program participation with government perceptions, welfare stigma, and discrimination

Safety-net programs in the United States offered critical support to counter food insecurity and poverty during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are both means-tested programs with significant benefits. Take-up of SNAP and EITC is lower in California than nationwide and More

June 2023

Experiences of distress and gaps in government safety net supports among parents of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted rapid federal, state, and local government policymaking to buffer families from the health and economic harms of the pandemic. However, there has been little attention to families’ perceptions of whether the pandemic safety net policy response was adequate, and what is needed to alleviate lasting effects on family well-being. This study More