A new Mumsnet survey of over 1000 UK parents of school-aged
children reveals that 62% want children in primary and public
exam years to return to school after the February half term. 75%
say school lockdowns are harming children’s education, and 73% of
those doing home-schooling say their child is more demotivated
and disengaged than they would be on a ‘normal’ school day.
40% of parents whose children are in private schools say their
children are actively engaged in learning five or more hours a
day, compared with 12% of parents whose children are in state
schools.
Mothers are spending an average of 1.9 hours per day helping
their children with schoolwork, while those with a male partner
say their partner spends 0.7 hours on the task. 44% of parents
are spending more than two hours actively supporting their
child’s schoolwork every day. 21% say their child cannot do any
of their home-schoolwork without parental intervention and
help.
71% of primary school parents in paid work say ‘lockdown learning
has made me a worse employee or less effective at work’. 55%
overall, and 67% of those with primary school children, are
worried they’re letting their employer down because of time spent
supporting their children’s learning - and 75% are worried
they’re not doing enough to support their children’s school
work.
Parents of younger school-age children are finding things
particularly difficult. 60% of parents with children in primary
school say this period of lockdown learning is more difficult
than the last one because it feels more permanent and
exhausting.
Parents are increasingly worried about the impacts on their
children’s wellbeing and future development. 75% say school
lockdowns are harming children’s education, and 73% of those
doing home-schooling say their child is more demotivated and
disengaged than they would be on a ‘normal’ school day. (48% of
those whose children are physically at school say the same.)
78% of parents say lockdown has been harmful to their children’s
mental health, and 90% say it’s been harmful to their social
lives. Of those who think that primary school children and
exam-year pupils should go back to school after half term, almost
half (48%) said the main reason was their children’s mental
health.
When asked about levels of confidence in the handling of COVID
and children’s education:
- 81% said they had confidence in their child’s own school
- 78% said they had confidence in teachers and schools in
general
- 14% said they had confidence in the UK government, and
- 11% said they had confidence in education ministers in
Westminster (education ministers in devolved administrations
scored 15%).
76% think teachers and schools have been given an impossible task
in coping with COVID-related school closures, and 89% think
parents who have young children and paid work are in an
impossible situation.
Mumsnet Founder Justine Roberts said: “There are no bright spots
here. Most parents accept that the national situation demands
restrictions on school attendance, but the impacts on parents and
children are serious. Working mothers in particular are really
struggling, and worrying about their own future in the workplace
as well as children’s education and wellbeing. We’re hearing of
mothers getting up earlier and earlier and going to bed later and
later at night, sometimes working past midnight to make up the
hours they spend supporting their children during the day.
Parents and children need some real clarity now about when and
how schools might open, and about how exams will be handled.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
Survey of 1,002 Mumsnet users in the UK with at least one school
aged child, between 20th January and 22nd January 2021. The data
is not weighted.
