Parenting through the pandemic
Too many parents struggle to access parenting support. We think that should change
Parenting is hard, and all parents need support to help their child thrive and fulfil their potential.
Through our Parent Talk service, we know that parents need support across of wide range of areas – from their child’s education to managing their own health and wellbeing.
However, we also know that not all parents who need help get it. We wanted to find out more about parents’ experiences in seeking and accessing parenting support.
We surveyed just over 2,000 parents of 0-18s across the UK to find out their experiences of parenting through the pandemic.
- The pandemic exacerbated the challenges facing parents - more than 4 in 5 parents have struggled with a symptom of parental burnout since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.
- The need for parenting support is common - 61% of parents have needed support in the last 12 months.
- Too many parents struggle to get the support they need - 1 in 7 parents who have needed support in the last 12 months say they never got the help they needed.
The Government has an opportunity to support a wide range of its policy ambitions – better support through Family Hubs, reducing parental conflict, and helping all children get the best start in life – by ensuring more parents can get the parenting support they need.
The Government should fund an expansion of online parenting support services.
We know services like Parent Talk are invaluable to parents who are at the early stages of dealing with parenting challenges or need help to navigate wider support services.
