In the midst of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that it has disproportionately affected Black, Latinx, and American Indian families and communities. Though lack of adequate data makes it impossible to gauge the full impact of the pandemic, there is also ample evidence of COVID-19’s move from large cities to rural communities—where it continues to spread.

Mirroring the pandemic’s profile in urban areas, several of the rural communities in which COVID-19 rates have been disproportionately high are also home to large or majority populations of color, as illustrated below. Threats to healthy development that the pandemic poses for urban children of color, including family income loss, housing insecurity, and learning loss, are likely to be multiplied in rural settings, which already experience (PDF) higher levels of persistent child poverty than urban areas, with significant long-term implications for families and communities. In addition, rural families of color face health care challenges (PDF) unique to rural areas, such as coverage barriers and health system deficiencies. Economic decline and social disruption also affect many rural places.

Protecting the rising generation of rural children of color will depend on rapid, expansive action by stakeholders across policy and nonprofit sectors to narrow the racial and ethnic disparities exacerbated by the pandemic.

As evidence accumulates that COVID-19 may be contributing to social inequality, experts are concerned that the pandemic will generate a self-reinforcing cycle of poverty and poor health conditions. So although we do not know the extent of the equity gaps exacerbated by COVID-19, we do know that narrowing them is critical to ensuring a path to a more equitable future that promotes shared prosperity. Investments in children are especially important for helping them reach their full potential.

Read the full article about protecting rural children of color by Faith Mitchell at Urban Institute.