What Parents Think about School Efforts to Limit Covid

The battle lines are drawn as parents face off across the country over Covid mitigation measures. Schools are in the crosshairs.

Almost half of parents with children aged 12 to 17 (48 percent) say their child has received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, according to the KFF Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor fielded September 13-22. Almost as many parents (40 percent) say they will wait and see on the vaccine, or they will have their child vaccinated only if required, or they definitely will not get their child vaccinated. 

Among parents of 5-to-11-year-olds, only 34 percent say they will get their child vaccinated as soon as the vaccine is authorized for the age group. Almost as many—32 percent—say they will wait and see. Another 31 percent say they will have their child vaccinated only if required, or they definitely will not get their child vaccinated. 

In the midst of these divisions, the nation's schools are struggling to create a safe physical environment for the education of the nation's 53 million school-aged children. It is a daunting task. Not only do parents disagree about the need for vaccinations but also about the need for masks...

Parents with children in K-12 schools

58% think all students and staff should be required to wear masks

35% think no one should be required to wear masks

4% think only unvaccinated students and staff should be required to wear masks

Among vaccinated parents, 73 percent think schools should require all students and staff to wear masks. Among unvaccinated parents, 63 percent think no one should be required to wear masks. What are the schools doing about masks? The 69 percent majority of parents say their child's school requires all students and staff to wear masks. Another 28 percent of parents say their child's school does not have any mask requirements. 

Despite the deep divisions among parents, fully 66 percent think their child's school is doing "about the right amount" to limit the spread of Covid. Twenty-one percent say their child's school is not doing enough, and 11 percent say their child's school is doing too much. 

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, KFF Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor: Vaccination Trends among Children and Covid-19 in Schools

Percentage of Men at Work Hits Record Low

Working parents are having a tough time coping with the coronavirus pandemic. Just how tough is spelled out in a Pew Research Center analysis of monthly data from the 2020 Current Population Survey. For many parents, the pandemic means they can't work at all—either they lost their job or they have had to leave the labor force to care for children and supervise their education. 

Only 60.5 percent of all men aged 16 or older were employed and working in September 2020, Pew reports. This is the smallest share of men at work on record and well below the 65.3 percent who were working in September 2019. The trend for women is similar. Only 49.2 percent of women aged 16 or older were employed and working in September 2020, the smallest share in 35 years and down from 54.0 percent in September 2019.

One reason for these low figures is the struggle parents face as they attempt to juggle work, child care, and homeschooling. The percentage of mothers and fathers who were working in September 2020 was well below the 2019 figures. Among fathers, the biggest decline occurred for those with children under age 3. In September 2019, fully 91.9 percent of these fathers were working. In September 2020, a smaller 85.0 percent were working—a 6.9 percentage point drop. Among mothers, those with children aged 3 to 13 registered the biggest decline—a 6.7 percentage point drop. The parents fortunate enough to be working in September 2020 reported fewer hours of work per week than their counterparts did in September 2019. 

The findings of this analysis are in contrast to earlier studies, Pew notes. The earlier studies showed mothers cutting back on work more than fathers. The latest findings show the coronavirus pandemic affecting mothers and fathers similarly. 

Source: Pew Research Center, Fewer Mothers and Fathers in U.S. Are Working Due to Covid-19 Downturn; Those at Work Have Cut Hours

How Important Is Computer Science Education?

The 69 percent majority of parents with children in grades 7 through 12 think it is important for their children to learn computer science, but only 35 percent think it is very important, according to a Gallup survey supported by Google. For the survey, computer science is defined as "the study of computers, including both hardware and software design, development and programming." It does not include simply using a computer, doing online research, or creating documents on a computer.  

Students themselves are even less likely than parents to think it is important to learn computer science. Only 40 percent think it is important, and just 16 percent think it is very important. Boys (22 percent) are more likely than girls (9 percent) to think it is very important to learn computer science.

Among parents, 32 percent think it is very likely that their child will need to know computer science for their career someday. Just 35 percent of parents have ever encouraged their child to pursue a career in computer science. Among students, only 10 percent say they are very likely to pursue a career in computer science.

Source: Gallup, Parents Think Computer Science Education Is Important

Why Parents Are Tearing Their Hair Out

Modern American parents do not devote all that much time to child care. Instead, they depend on day care providers, schools, and extracurricular activities to do much of the heavy lifting. Or, they used to. Parents, more than any other segment of the population, have had their daily lives turned upside down by the coronavirus.

Consider the time use of parents before the pandemic. On an average day in 2019, parents with children under age 18 spent only 1.36 hours a day caring for their children as a primary activity (their main activity), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' American Time Use Survey. Mothers spent 1.74 hours a day and fathers 0.91 hours a day caring for children.

Before coronavirus, few parents spent any time engaged in education-related activities with children. Parents devoted only 0.11 hours (less than 7 minutes) to their child's educational activities on an average day in 2019. Most parents did not engage in education-related activities with their children at all, according to a BLS analysis of time use data from 2015–19. For married parents, here are the percentages who participated in education-related activities with their children on an average day...

Married parents engaging in education-related activities with children, average day 2015–19
  5.2% of fathers with full-time jobs
  9.2% of mothers with full-time jobs
18.2% of mothers with part-time jobs
19.4% of mothers who are not employed

Now imagine how many parents are engaged in education-related activities with their children on an average day in 2020 and how much time they are devoting to it.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Hours Per Day Parents Spent Caring for and Helping Household Children as Their Main Activity

What Parents Want

Only 36 percent of parents want full-time in-person schooling to resume in the upcoming school year, according to a Gallup survey. As school start dates approach and Covid-19 infections surge, the percentage of parents who support full-time in-person instruction has dropped precipitously since June, when the 56 percent majority of parents supported traditional instruction.

Parents' preferences for the resumption of school (July 13-27)
Full-time in person school: 36%
Part-time in-person/part-time remote: 36%
Full-time remote instruction: 28%

Behind the 20 percentage-point drop in support of full-time in-person instruction are parents' growing fears that their children will become infected with Covid-19. Between June and July, the percentage of parents who are somewhat/very worried about their child becoming infected climbed from 46 to 64 percent. This growing fear explains the 21 percentage-point increase in parents' preference for full-time remote instruction, which rose from just 7 percent in June to the 28 percent of July. There was almost no change in the percentage of parents who favor a mix of in-person and remote schooling.

Republicans are far less concerned than Democrats about their children going back to school. Among parents who are Democrats, only 13 percent favor full-time in-person schooling. Among parents who are Republicans, 68 percent favor traditional instruction.

Source: Gallup, Fewer U.S. Parents Want Full-Time In-Person Fall Schooling

When Should Children Have Their Own Smartphone?

Today's parents are concerned about their children's screen time. Fully 71 percent of parents with children under age 12 are worried about their child spending too much time in front of a screen, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Two out of three parents say parenting is harder today than it used to be, with many citing technology as the reason. Despite these concerns, the great majority of parents with a child aged 5 to 11 say their child uses tablet computers and smartphones, as do nearly half of parents with a child under age 5...

Parents with a child aged 5 to 11
80% say their child uses/interacts with a tablet computer
63% say their child uses/interacts with a smartphone

Parents with a child under age 5
48% say their child uses/interacts with a tablet computer
55% say their child uses/interacts with a smartphone

What is the appropriate age for children to have their own device? When it comes to smartphones, 73 percent of parents think a child should be 12 or older, with 45 percent giving the nod to children aged 12 to 14 and another 28 percent wanting to wait until a child is aged 15 to 17. Parents are more lax when it comes to tablet computers. Fully 65 percent think children can have their own tablet computer before the age of 12, while 31 percent say the child should be 12 or older.

Source: Pew Research Center, Parenting Children in the Age of Screens

Back to School Jitters

The nation's parents are not happy. Most of them (51 percent) are very/extremely worried about sending their children back to school in the fall, according to the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index fielded July 10-13.

An even larger 71 percent of parents think their family's health and wellbeing will be at moderate/large risk if they send their children to school in the fall, with the 43 percent plurality of parents calling the risk large. Do the calculation, and that's 31 million parents—or 1 in 8 voters—who are freaking out, not to mention millions more teachers and grandparents. This wave of worries should keep even the most callous school board member, school superintendent, mayor, governor, congressional representative, and senator up at night, concerned about their careers if not their constituents.

Coronavirus worries are not limited to parents. The 59 percent majority of the public is now very/extremely concerned about the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Axios/Ipsos poll. This figure is 11 percentage points higher than it was a month ago and approaching the 66 percent peak level of concern recorded in early April.

Source: Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index, Despite Seeing Great Risk, Americans Slow to Make Major Changes to Deal with Covid

How Much Is Too Much?

Are parents doing too much for their young adult children? Most Americans think so. According to a Pew Research Center survey, the 55 percent majority of adults say parents are doing too much for their children aged 18 to 29.

But ask the parents of these young adults whether they're doing too much and you get a different answer. Fully 63 percent say they are doing about the right amount. Only 28 percent think they do too much. The remaining 8 percent say they do too little.

One of the big things parents do for their young adult children is help them financially. Among parents with children aged 18 to 29, a substantial 59 percent have provided at least some financial help to their child in the past 12 months. The average American might call this financial help excessive. But parents with children aged 18 to 29 know better than anyone else how hard it is for young adults to achieve financial independence these days. While 64 percent of the public thinks adult children should be financially independent by age 22, only 24 percent of young adults achieve financial independence by age 22.

Source: Pew Research Center, Majority of Americans Say Parents Are Doing Too Much for Their Young Adult Children

Who Lives with Their Parents and Why

Twelve percent of the nation's adults live with their parents. For most, financial reasons are a big factor, according to the Federal Reserve Board's 2018 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking. Here are the reasons people live with their parents by age group (more than one reason could be selected)...

Aged 18 to 21 (61 percent live with parents)
63% to save money
31% prefer living with others
15% to provide financial assistance
13% to care for family member or friend
3% to receive help with child care

Aged 22 to 24 (51 percent live with parents)
83% to save money
37% prefer living with others
29% to provide financial assistance
20% to care for family member or friend
5% to receive help with child care

Aged 25 to 29 (26 percent live with parents)
86% to save money
38% to provide financial assistance
33% prefer living with others
25% to care for family member or friend
8% to receive help with child care

Aged 30 to 39 (13 percent live with parents)
60% to save money
42% to provide financial assistance
36% to care for family member or friend
20% prefer living with others
14% to receive help with child care

Source: Federal Reserve Board, Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2018 

Parents and Grown Children Talk a Lot

If you wonder why so many people have their noses stuck in their phones, they're probably talking to Mom or Dad. Thanks to the internet and smartphones, today's parents and their grown children talk a lot, according to the General Social Survey.

How much is a lot? Among adults with living parents, 36 percent communicate with a parent every day. Nearly two-thirds communicate with a parent at least several times a week. Here is the GSS survey question...

"Think about the parent you have contact with most frequently: How often do you have contact with that parent, either face-to-face, by phone, internet, or any other communication device?" (percent of those with living parents responding; excludes the 4 percent who live with a parent)
36% daily
25% several times a week
17% once a week
12% one to three times a month
10% less often

When the question is reversed, communication is even more frequent. Among Americans with adult children, nearly half (49 percent) communicate with a grown child every day. Fully 75 percent communicate with a grown child at least several times a week...

"Think about the adult child you have contact with most frequently: How often do you have contact with this child at least 18, either face-to-face, by phone, internet, or any other communication device?" (percent of those with adult children responding; excludes the 2 percent who live with an adult child)
49% daily
26% several times a week
11% once a week
  9% one to three times a month
  5% less often

What does most of this communication look like? Noses stuck in phones. All or most contact with family occurs via phone, texting, or through the internet, reports the 54 percent majority of the public.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the General Social Survey

The Age When We Lose Our Parents

"The loss of one or both parents can profoundly affect a person's life," say Census Bureau researchers Zachary Scherer and Rose M. Kreider in an analysis of the age at which people lose their parents. Parents provide financial, emotional, and practical support to their children throughout life, note Scherer and Kreider. Consequently, the age at which one loses a parent can affect quality of life and standard of living.

Little has been known about the age at which Americans experience the loss of their parents—until now. The 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation asked respondents whether their parents were still alive. Scherer and Kreider analyzed the data and found that the loss of one or more parents becomes the norm in the 45-to-54 age group...

Percent with one or more deceased parents
Total, 18-plus: 42.2%
Under age 18: 2.8%
Aged 18 to 24: 7.7%
Aged 25 to 34: 16.4%
Aged 35 to 44: 33.9%
Aged 45 to 54: 63.0%
Aged 55 to 64: 88.4%
Aged 65-plus: 99.1%

People lose their father before their mother, according to the analysis. Most 45-to-54-year-olds have lost Dad, while only one-third of the age group has lost Mom. Among 55-to-64-year-olds, the 54 percent majority has lost both parents. Among people aged 65 or older, a nearly universal 91 percent has lost both parents.

The age at which people lose a parent differs by socioeconomic factors. The higher the income and education, the smaller the percentage who have lost a parent in every age group until 65-plus, when nearly everyone has experienced the loss. By race and Hispanic origin, Blacks experience the loss of a parent at an earlier age than other race and Hispanic origin groups. Among 25-to-34-year-olds, for example, one in four Blacks has experienced the death of a parent. The figure is 15 percent among non-Hispanic Whites and Asians and 17 percent among Hispanics.

Because parents potentially provide their children with financial, emotional, and practical support throughout life, the earlier loss of parents may lower their children's standard of living. "Ostensibly, individuals with lower income, lower educational attainment, and those from communities that experience lower life expectancy would benefit most from parental support. However, our findings indicate that these same groups are the ones that experience parental loss earlier in life," the researchers conclude.

Source: Census Bureau, The Link Between Socioeconomic Factors and Parental Mortality

Who Uses YouTube?

Among social media platforms, nothing is as popular as YouTube—not even Facebook, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey. Fully 73 percent of Americans aged 18 or older use YouTube, surpassing the 68 percent who use Facebook. Among younger adults, the figures are even higher...

Percent who use YouTube by age, 2018
Aged 18 to 24: 94%
Aged 25 to 29: 88%
Aged 30 to 49: 85%
Aged 50 to 64: 68%
Aged 65-plus: 40%

What's so great about YouTube? That's a question only 27 percent of adults might ask—those who haven't yet caught on to what YouTube offers—primarily instruction and explanation. The largest share of YouTube users (51 percent) say the site is very important for helping them learn how to do things they haven't done before, 19 percent say it is very important for helping them decide whether to buy a particular product, and 19 percent say it is very important for helping them understand things happening in the world. Only 28 percent say YouTube is very important just for passing the time.

But there is a dark side to YouTube, and most YouTube users have encountered it. Sixty percent say they have seen videos that show people engaging in dangerous or troubling behavior, the Pew Survey found. Among the 81 percent of parents who let their children aged 11 or younger watch YouTube, 61 percent say their child has encountered unsuitable content. "Numerous researchers have noted that a great deal of children's content on YouTube consists of simple, repetitive animated videos with modest production values and seemingly random titles designed specifically to appeal to the site's search function and automated recommendation system," Pew states.

For an eye-opening examination of the unsavory content in some YouTube videos for children, see Weird Kids Videos and Gaming the Algorithm.

Source: Pew Research Center, Social Media Use in 2018 and Many Turn to YouTube for Children's Content, News, How-To Lessons

Who Has Had a Biological Child?

Yes, the nation's fertility rate is at an all-time low. Yes, the number of births has fallen to levels not seen in 30 years. Nevertheless, most Americans will have children. In fact, most women aged 25 or older and most men aged 30 or older are parents, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Here is the percentage who have had a biological child by age...

Percentage of women who have had a biological child
Aged 15 to 24: 17.1%
Aged 25 to 29: 52.1%
Aged 30 to 34: 76.2%
Aged 35 to 39: 80.0%
Aged 40 to 44: 85.0%

Percentage of men who have had a biological child
Aged 15 to 24: 7.6%
Aged 25 to 29: 37.2%
Aged 30 to 34: 58.6%
Aged 35 to 39: 74.8%
Aged 40 to 44: 80.4%

Overall, 44 percent of men and 55 percent of women aged 15 to 44 have had a biological child.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Fertility of Men and Women Aged 15–44 in the United States: National Survey of Family Growth, 2011–2015

Single Parents Not Necessarily Going it Alone

Many single parents are living with a partner, reports Pew Research Center in an analysis of the Census Bureau's 2017 Current Population Survey. Fully 35 percent of single parents were living with a partner in 2017, up from 20 percent two decades ago in 1997.

Unmarried parents living with children under age 18
Solo mother: 53%
Solo father: 12%
Cohabiting mother: 18%
Cohabiting father: 17%

Many solo mothers and fathers aren't so alone either. A large share live with their own parents—31 percent of solo fathers and 22 percent of solo mothers. The grandparents "could be playing an important role as caregiver to any grandchildren in the household," says Pew.

Source: Pew Research Center, The Changing Profile of Unmarried Parents

Working Parents Are the Norm for Preschoolers

Every parent in the household is employed in the great majority of families with children under age 6, according to 2017 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Whether preschoolers live in a married-couple or single-parent family, seeing Mom and/or Dad go off to work is the norm...

Families with preschoolers in which all household parents are employed
Married-couple families: 62%
Female-headed families: 68%
Male-headed families: 86%

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Characteristics of Families

Facts about Child Support

Child support is an important source of income for millions of Americans. That's why the Census Bureau regularly examines the characteristics of those who receive child support and the size of child support payments. Here are the latest findings...

• Of the nation's 83 million children under age 21, more than one in four (27 percent) lives in a custodial-parent family.
• Of the 13.6 million custodial parents, only 50 percent had child support agreements.
• Those with agreements were supposed to receive an average of $5,760 in child support in 2015.
• Among those with agreements, 69 percent received payments in 2015.
• Among those who received payments, the average received was $3,447

When the Census Bureau asked custodial parents without child support agreements why they did not have a formal arrangement, the single biggest response was that the other parent provides what he or she can. 

Source: Census Bureau, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2015

Most Parents Are Very Satisfied with Child's School

Among the parents of the nation's school children in kindergarten through 12th grade, fully 60 percent are "very satisfied" with their child's school, according to a National Center for Education Statistics survey. The percentage of parents who are very satisfied declines as children grow older, from 69 percent of parents with children in kindergarten through 2nd grade to a smaller 54 percent of those with children in 9th through 12th grade. Here are the percentages of parents who are very satisfied with their child's school by type of school...

Percent of parents who are very satisfied with child's school by type of school
Public, assigned: 57%
Public, chosen: 65%
Private, religious: 78%
Private, nonreligious: 84%

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education: Results from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016

Most Children Are Expected to Earn Bachelor's Degree

The nation's parents have high expectations for their children—too high, in fact. Fully 68 percent of the 26 million students in grades 6 through 12 are expected to earn at least a bachelor's degree, according to a National Center for Education Statistics survey of parent and family involvement in education. Most children attempt to fulfill their parents' expectations. The college enrollment rate—defined as the percentage of high school graduates who enroll in college within a year of their graduation—is in fact almost identical to parents' expectations at 69 percent. But only about half of those who enroll eventually earn a bachelor's degree.

Percent of students in 6th to 12th grade whose parents expect them to earn at least a bachelor's degree, by highest level of parental education, 2016
55% of parents without a high school diploma
45% of parents who went no further than high school
59% of parents with some college
84% of parents with a bachelor's degree
91% of parents with a graduate or professional degree

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education: Results from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016

39% of Children Have Parent(s) with Bachelor's Degree

Among the nation's children, 39 percent have at least one parent in the household who has a bachelor's degree or more education. The figure varies greatly by race and Hispanic origin...

Percent of children under age 18 with parent who has a bachelor's degree, 2015
66% of Asians
50% of non-Hispanic Whites
24% of Blacks
21% of American Indians
18% of Hispanics

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education 2017

Modern Family: Why Children Are In Charge

Children rule, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research analysis of how parenting has changed over time. The outsized power of children in modern American families is a relatively recent phenomenon, and the NBER researchers theorize that children have become more powerful because competition within families has changed.

"The key intuition is that the rise in relative earnings of wives increased competition between spouses for the love and affection of their children," the researchers say, "while the decline in family size reduced competition between children for resources from their parents. The combined effect has empowered children."

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, When Children Rule: Parenting in Modern Families, NBER Working Paper #23087 ($5)