Coping with homeschooling and caring for children during the UK COVID-19 lockdown: voices of working mothers

Angeliki Kallitsoglou; Pamela-Zoe Topalli

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-333649/v1

Coping with homeschooling and caring for children during the UK COVID-19 lockdown: voices of working mothers

Angeliki Kallitsoglou, Pamela-Zoe Topalli

School of Education

Research output: Working paper › Preprint

Abstract

We examined working mothers’ experiences and feelings about homeschooling and caring for children while working during the summer 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. Eligible mothers were invited to participating in an on-line survey of open-ended questions that was distributed via social media between mid - June to mid-August 2020. Participants (n = 47; Mage = 39.6, range = 28 to 54 years) were predominantly white married working mothers and most had a higher education degree. The experience of combining homeschooling/caring while working was perceived difficult by many mothers and it was associated with feelings of stress about managing competing demands concurrently, guilt for not meeting the child’s needs, and worry over child socioemotional well-being and academic learning. Support from partner, work, and school were instrumental in improving maternal experience and emotional state. Finally, coping strategies that reflect mindfulness practices for stress management, were associated with positive experiences and feelings.

Original language	English
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-333649/v1
Publication status	Published - 16 Mar 2021

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10.21203/rs.3.rs-333649/v1

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title = "Coping with homeschooling and caring for children during the UK COVID-19 lockdown: voices of working mothers",

abstract = "We examined working mothers{\textquoteright} experiences and feelings about homeschooling and caring for children while working during the summer 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. Eligible mothers were invited to participating in an on-line survey of open-ended questions that was distributed via social media between mid - June to mid-August 2020. Participants (n = 47; Mage = 39.6, range = 28 to 54 years) were predominantly white married working mothers and most had a higher education degree. The experience of combining homeschooling/caring while working was perceived difficult by many mothers and it was associated with feelings of stress about managing competing demands concurrently, guilt for not meeting the child{\textquoteright}s needs, and worry over child socioemotional well-being and academic learning. Support from partner, work, and school were instrumental in improving maternal experience and emotional state. Finally, coping strategies that reflect mindfulness practices for stress management, were associated with positive experiences and feelings.",

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