Working Parents Struggle To Juggle Their Child's Education With Their Working Life

Working parents face mammoth task of juggling home school and work through the summer

- new survey by Koru Kids reveals

Over half of parents will continue home schooling through summer holidays

During lockdown parents did on average 3 hours home school a day 

65% have been satisfied with their school’s home schooling support

87% will send children back to school when they reopen in September 

64% parents will try to juggle work, look after their children and home schooling if schools don’t re-open in September

It has been revealed that working families face continued pressure to juggle their working lives with the needs to home school their children during the Covid 19 pandemic.

Koru Kids launched its survey during the lockdown in June to gather insights into the attitudes of its community of working families and was astonished with the widespread engagement across London from 1,500 parents.

The results have shown that working parents are finding themselves under increasing pressure as 53% of respondents plan to continue homeschooling their children over the summer to prevent them falling behind. With many summer camps unsure if they can open, working parents will be under continued strain to juggle working and homeschooling concurrently.

In addition, working parents also revealed on average they are managing three hours of home schooling a day. 65% reported being satisfied with the support they’ve had from their child’s school with home schooling provision.

With the Government announcing schools will return with full capacity in September it tells a strong story that 87% of parents said they would send their children back. However, if schools don’t reopen 64% will continue to juggle work, childcare and home schooling. 

Koru Kids has been supporting London’s working parents since it launched in 2017 with its unique proposition that focuses on part-time nannies for school aged children (aged 3+).  When schools closed, Koru Kids were quick to respond to the needs of working parents and to date their nannies have provided over 65,000 hours of childcare to support parents to continue working from home.

Koru Kids CEO Rachel Carrell said “We launched our survey to get a sense of how parents’ would approach home schooling after lockdown and how they felt about sending their children back to school. The results show how resilient working parents are. We’ve  been inundated by parents requesting home schooling and extra childcare support from our nannies and we’re glad to help families in their time of need.  It’s clear that parents need childcare support more than ever, especially as many come out of furlough and get back to work.  Koru Kids will continue to support the working parent community.”

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/coronavirus-and-homeschooling-in-great-britain-april-to-june-2020

Statistics will be released by UK government on 22 July 2020

Lockdown anxiety

The wellbeing of the family unit is being put to the test during this period of lockdown, and many parents are anxious about the future. Over two thirds (68%) feel stressed about having to work from home as well as look after their children. Longer-term, 81% of parents also worry about how long the lockdown will continue for and the affect it will have on their jobs, as well as their children’s education.

For those having to home-school their children, 71% reported they find it most difficult to set – and stick to – a routine. 70% said their children simply don’t listen to them, and 61% admit that sibling dynamics may be suffering, as they can’t control or stop their children from arguing.

Can’t teach, won’t teach

With the start of the new school ‘term’ now underway, over three quarters (79%) of parents are concerned about their children’s education. Two thirds (63%) admit they find it difficult to understand their children’s schoolwork and can’t actually teach them the set curriculum. The concern is highest (85%) for those with children between 7 and 13 years of age.

Two thirds of parents admit they do not understand their children’s schoolwork and are unable to teach them the set curriculum, while four fifths are worried about how long this will continue and the affect it will have on their children and their job.

Over two thirds of parents say they feel stressed or anxious at having to both work from home and look after their children for the foreseeable future, according to the report from CW Jobs.

The government has been trying to find ways to support people who have lost their jobs due to the Covid pandemic using the furlough scheme etc. but their have been many problems with this.

If you'd like to find out more information on this report, please visit https://www.cwjobs.co.uk/advice/parents-working-from-home