Communication with Kin in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This study investigates patterns of communication among non-coresident kin in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic using data from the New York City Robin Hood Poverty Tracker. Over half of New Yorkers spoke to their non-coresident family members several times a week during the pandemic, and nearly half increased their communication with non-coresident kin since March 2020. Siblings and extended kin proved to be especially important ties activated during the pandemic. New Yorkers were most likely to report increased communication with siblings. A quarter of respondents reported that they increased communication with at least one aunt, uncle, cousin, or other extended family member. Although non-Hispanic White respondents reported the highest frequency of communication with kin, it was those groups most impacted by COVID-19—foreign-born, Black, and Hispanic New Yorkers—who were most likely to report that they increased communication with kin in the wake of the pandemic.