Parenting during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Family Changes, Challenges and Resilience

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented measures and restrictions that disrupted families' lives, forcing them to reorganize their routines. This study investigated the parenting experiences in terms of changes and challenges, including positive effects and family resilience indicators. Unlike most studies which have limited their focus to the first period of lockdown or are based on questionnaires, this study covers the period from the first to the fifth wave of the pandemic in France (March 2020-November 2021) and relies on a large qualitative survey. 282 French parents living at home with at least one child under 18 years of age participated in the study. On an online platform, parents were asked to answer two open-ended questions. A thorough coding of the verbatim was carried out according to an empirical-inductive approach by two independent raters. The qualitative results were completed by quantitative analyses. Four major themes emerged from the responses to the first question (perceived improvement, perceived deterioration, no perceived change, and mixed feelings), and five challenges were identified for the second question (organizational challenges, family challenges, psychological challenges, health challenges, and no challenge). Parents reported more improvements in their parenting experience than deteriorations. Organizational challenges were mentioned more than twice as often as health challenges. Nearly a quarter of participants declared no perceived change in their lives as parents. It appears that French parents were able to tap into their resources without reducing their parenting abilities, and for many of them, this also resulted in improved parenting. After the severe lockdowns, the pandemic's progression revealed ongoing challenges and opportunities to strengthen family resilience. Despite initial relief, the pandemic left lasting impacts on family dynamics, with studies noting improvements in organization and reduced stress, but also ongoing difficulties in readjusting routines and concerns about children's well-being.