Parents report stronger relationships with their children during lockdown

The Covid-19 crisis has strengthened parent-child relationships, according to a recent survey.

About a quarter of parents reported that their relationship with their children had become better since the government’s stay at home policy. Less than 5% reported it had become worse.

These results are based on parents surveyed in the Understanding Society May COVID-19 survey, a nationally representative study that collected data from 5500 parents.

CPC member Professor Brienna Perelli-Harris led the study, working with Sandra Walzenbach from the University of Essex.

Professor Perelli-Harris commented: “Many recent studies have pointed out the increasing economic and caring burden for women; for example, the April COVID-19 survey indicated that, on average, mothers spend nine more hours doing childcare and home schooling per week than fathers.

“However, there are hidden gains. Nearly one-third of women appear to be benefiting from the lockdown as a time to become closer to their children. Only 5% reported their relationships had become worse. It seems that, despite the unequal pressures of home schooling and housework, slightly more mothers than fathers reported an improvement in their relationships.”

The survey also showed that:
- Working from home may not be as bad for parent-child relationships as some have predicted. More parents who work at home reported improvements in their relationships than those who do not.
- Investing in home schooling and caring seems to be related to closer relationships.
- Fewer lone mothers reported an improvement in their relationships, and slightly more said their relationships had become worse.
- About 10% who said they were finding it difficult to get by or thought their financial future would be worse were more likely to say their relationships had deteriorated; however 27% said their relationships has improved.

Professor Perelli-Harris continues: “The survey has shown that working from home and having the time to home school seems to improve parent-child relationships. Note, however, that those who can work from home most likely have higher incomes and education. Overall, though, the differences by socio-economic status are minor, with nearly a third of those in deprived circumstances still reporting that their relationships had improved recently. And keep in mind that 97% of parents in Britain say that they have a close or very close relationship with their children. Very few say that they are not at all close to their children.”

Nearly 40% of parents who reduced their hours to look after their children reported their relationships had become better, and only 6% said their relationships had become worse. Parents who spend more time home schooling their children reported having a better relationship than those who spend no time with their children. This could be partly due to the age of the children, however; more parents with younger children reported an improvement in their relationship than parents with older children.

Some groups did appear to suffer more due to the lockdown. The April COVID-19 Understanding Society survey indicated that lone parents have experienced particularly severe declines in household earnings and have been falling behind on bills. These stressors may be impacting relationships. Fewer lone parents say they talk to their children about important matters. However, they are also less likely to quarrel with their children, possibly because they have fewer interactions with them.

While the survey is based on a nationally representative sampling framework, it may still have missed the most disadvantaged who have suffered the most. For example, there is insufficient data on men who have experienced hardship to be able to say whether their relationships have become better or worse. Those in the worse circumstances most likely did not answer the survey at all.

Professor Brienna Perelli-Harris is the Understanding Society Topic Champion for Families. She is part of the Study’s Scientific Leadership Group and contributed the design of the family section of the new COVID-19 survey. The Understanding Society COVID-19 study is a monthly survey on the experiences and reactions of the UK population to the COVID-19 pandemic, funded by the ESRC and the Health Foundation. The second wave was carried out online between 27 May and 2 June. All Understanding Society adult sample members aged 16+ were invited to participate, and 14,607 completed the survey in the second wave. There were over 5,500 parents who answered questions on family life and whose data fed into the figures in this press release. The Health Foundation is an independent charity committed to bringing about better health and health care for people in the UK. The COVID-19 survey data is available to researchers via the UK Data Service.

For further information on this study, read CPC Policy Briefing 54 '[How has the Covid-19 crisis impacted parents’
relationships with their children?|http://www.cpc.ac.uk/docs/2020_PB54_How_has_the_Covid-19_crisis_impacted_parents.pdf]' and Understanding Society Briefing Note 'Family relationships'.

Posted 03/07/2020 10:06