Survey explores the effect COVID-19 has had on families

Date: 22nd July 2020
Category: Disability, Basic Health and Welfare

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Commissioned by Action for Children, a YouGov survey of over 2000 parents has highlighted the impact of COVID-19 and life in lockdown.

The results from the survey are as follows:

• After months of lockdown over a third of parents (36%) said that their children were feeling isolated and lonely.
• Four in ten parents (43%) said they were feeling anxious and more than one in three (33%) admitted to being out of their depth when it came to supporting their children during lockdown.
• Many parents and children were experiencing sleep problems.
• Even with restrictions easing, parents felt fearful about the weeks and months of uncertainty ahead. Over one in three (37%) said they were worried their children would struggle to socialise and wanted to remain at home.

After seeing a 415% increase in users accessing Action for Children’s digital advice service, the charity launched a new online service connecting parents with trained parenting coaches. This service - called Parent Talk - is a one-to-one online chat service where parents can access free, practical advice and emotional support.

Action for Children is urging the UK Government to prioritise and fund children and young people’s mental health when recovering for COVID-19.

• Access Parent Talk here
• Read the survey results in full here