Working parents’ worries go way beyond childcare when the pandemic closes schools

December 14, 2020Parents are finding work more challenging than nonparents are—and it’s not just about childcare and homeschooling. They are feeling threats to their physical health, mental health, and job security.

School closures place extra burden on working parents and they are more likely to cite challenges than nonparents (2 charts)

Working parents are more likely to cite challenges than nonparents, and school closures in particular place an extra burden on working parents

Likelihood of parents citing a 'significant' challenge during the COVID-19 crisis vs nonparents,¹ multiple
Amount cited	Healthy and safe on-site workplace	Mental health	Connectivity and belonging	Workload increases	Growth and progress opportunities	Household responsibilities	Fair performance evaluation	Job insecurity	Physical health	Child/family care	Homeschooling²
Multiple	1.3×	1.4×	1.3×	1.1×	1.5×	1.9×	1.3×	1.3×	1.6×	5×	N/A

Share of parent respondents citing a 'significant' challenge during the COVID-19 crisis, by school closure,¹ %
Level of closure	Healthy and safe on-site workplace	Mental health	Connectivity and belonging	Workload increases	Growth and progress opportunities	Household responsibilities	Fair performance evaluation	Job insecurity	Physical health	Child/family care	Homeschooling
Full closure	50%	45%	34%	40%	44%	43%	38%	39%	40%	51%	50%
Partial closure	27%	24%	20%	20%	25%	23%	18%	21%	19%	26%	28%
No closure	23%	20%	22%	26%	22%	20%	15%	15%	13%	35%	37%

Notes

¹Please indicate which of the following has been challenging for you as an employee during the COVID-19 crisis (parents, n = 1,397; nonparents, n = 1,259; full school closure, n = 655; partial school closure, n = 567; no school closure, n = 175). Acute challenges are those where respondents described the challenge as being "significant" (other options included "somewhat," "not a challenge," and "not applicable").

²This category is primarily relevant for parents, and hence has been marked as "N/A."

Source: McKinsey 2020 Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion/COVID-19 Employee Experience Survey; UNESCO global monitoring of school closures caused by COVID-19

McKinsey & Company

To read the article, see “Diverse employees are struggling the most during COVID-19—here’s how companies can respond,” November 17, 2020.