TORONTO —
The global pandemic has brought a whole host of new challenges to an already challenging vocation: parenting.
To try to understand the ripple effect COVID-19 has had on families over the past few months, Statistics Canada is calling on parents to fill out a new survey.
The online survey, launched yesterday, is looking specifically for parents of children 14 years old or younger to answer questions related to child care, schooling, children’s activities, and parents’ employment status and concerns for the future.
Many households were thrown into turmoil by the pandemic and the resulting lockdown measures, including the closure of schools and many workplaces. Some parents have had to work from home with small children underfoot constantly, while others have had teenagers cooped up all day while they were dealing with the stress of being recently laid off.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives and habits of all Canadians, yet data on the impacts to children and their families is limited,” the introduction to the survey reads. “This survey will provide information on how the pandemic is affecting families with children under the age of 15, and how they are adjusting to the challenges of this new reality.”
The survey, which takes around five minutes to complete, starts off by asking for the ages and numbers of everyone in the survey taker’s household.
Questions range from asking parents what they are most concerned about for their children during this time — their physical or mental health, falling behind academically, their loneliness and lack of social interaction, screen time and online safety, etc. — to asking parents about their concerns for their own performance as parents. One question asks parents if they’re concerned about growing irritated and snapping at their children, and whether they’re concerned about balancing child care, schooling and work.
The survey seeks to find out if stressed out parents are working from home, have someone in the household who has been working outside during the pandemic, or have been laid off due to the pandemic.
Demographic-related questions are also asked to get a clearer picture of which parents and family units are affected the most strongly by the pandemic.
The survey will run until June 22, and results will be released in early July.
Government organizations including the Public Health Agency of Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada will be able to use the survey to “evaluate the delivery of health and social services and economic support, and to ensure best practices are adopted when reopening workplaces and public spaces,” according to StatCan.
Information provided for this survey may also be used for other future StatCan research, they add.
This is the latest survey in a series StatCan has been running since the start of the pandemic to track the impact of COVID-19 on various sectors and on Canadian lives. The next questionnaire, set to launch around the end of June, will focus on how Canadians with disabilities are coping during the pandemic.
