Parents and the Pandemic: A Comprehensive Analysis of Survey Data

As the COVID-19 pandemic escalated, it created a unique set of challenges for parents. Many suddenly found themselves juggling homeschooling with work, all while worrying about layoffs, reduced hours, and making rent. 

To better understand how parents are navigating these difficulties, Echelon Insights is conducting weekly surveys of 500 parents of public school students. Results are weighted by gender, age, race, ethnicity, education, and region to reflect known population demographics.  All of the data from the 4,000 parents surveyed ( toplines and crosstabs) along with summaries are available on AEI’s website.

Understanding parents’ concerns and preferences is vital to informing public policy and planning for returning to school. The results provide insight into parents’ experiences over time, along with suggestions to help guide decisions around reopening economies and schools. 

The eight weeks we surveyed parents saw massive shifts within society. Schools closed and began planning on how to reopen in the fall. Coronavirus cases flattened leading some states to reopen, only to then once again begin increasing. The CARES Act was debated, passed, and dollars began to flow. Civil unrest around the treatment of black lives ignited protests around the country after the cruel and unjust killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Some results that struck me:

More Than Half of Parents Surveyed Are Anxious or Exhausted Due to COVID-19

Parents consistently reported that help with keeping their children engaged in good activities and more money to spend on necessities would be most helpful to have right now. In terms of how parents feel as caregivers, 43% say that they are anxious, a third say that they are exhausted, and a third are frustrated. Nearly a quarter are anxious about the overall situation in the country right now.

Parents Don’t Feel Safe Sending Their Children Back to School in August or September

Only one-fifth of parents feel safe sending their children back to school in August or September. Twenty-nine percent of parents say that they won’t be comfortable until the winter or spring of 2021, and 10% say that they’re not comfortable with sending their children back at all this coming school year. Almost 4 in 10 parents say that they would not send their children back to school until a vaccine is available.

There are major differences across racial, political, and socioeconomic groups to this concern. White parents (34%) are twice as likely as non-white parents (19%) to say they feel comfortable sending their children back to school in August or September.

Republican parents (34%) are twice as likely as Democrats (16%) to feel comfortable sending their children back at the start of the school year.

Additionally, higher income families (39%) feel it is safe to send their children back to school, compared to just 19% of lower income families. 

Some parents (21%) are thinking about or going to be sending their children to a different school or homeschooling them this coming school year, with most of them citing health and safety concerns (38%) as the main reason why.

If there is another coronavirus outbreak in the fall when students are back in classrooms, parents want schools to provide live online classes (51%) and give laptops or tablets to students (40%).

More than 40% of Parents Are Worried About Their Children Facing Racism and Discrimination in School

Overall, parents are concerned about racist or discriminatory actions in schools. They are worried most about their children receiving racist comments (42%) and them not knowing whom to go to at school to deal with discrimination (42%). This is especially prevalent for parents of color, as they are worried most about their children being impacted by racist comments or actions by other students (63%) and facing discriminatory police actions at school (55%).

Parents want their schools to incorporate cultural awareness and implicit bias training for school staff (73%), trauma-informed guidance counselors (72%), and culturally inclusive curriculum (70%). However, parents among different races, political parties, community types, and education levels differ considerably when it comes to supporting actions that may improve racial equality in schools.