How did families cope with school closures in England?

Details

In 2020, schools in England closed for six months because of COVID-19, and children were home-schooled. There was limited understanding of the effects on children’s mental and physical health and education. Researchers explored how families coped with managing these issues during the closures.

They conducted 30 qualitative interviews between 16 and 21 April 2020 with parents of children aged 18 and under who would usually be in school. They identified three themes and eight sub-themes affecting how families coped. The three themes were family dynamics, circumstances and resources; changes in entertainment activities and physical movement; and worries about the COVID-19 pandemic.

A key barrier was difficulty with home-schooling, including a lack of resources and support from schools. However, greater parental involvement in children’s personal development and education was considered a benefit. Families also faced a lack of entertainment activities and in-person interactions, as well as additional worries about loved ones catching COVID-19.

Parents reported adverse behaviour changes in their children, although overall they said they were coping well. Pre-existing social and educational inequalities risked becoming worse. Families with more resources—including parental supervision, access to green space and technology for home-schooling, and no special educational needs—were better able to cope during closures. On balance, families appeared able to adapt to school closures. The researchers suggested that policy should support families to mitigate the widening health and educational gap between those with more and fewer resources.