Pandemic’s Effect on Working Parents – An Insight
The recent pandemic has shaken all of us out of our reveries. We are witnessing the most unexpected situations in our life and as many say, we are being a part of a historical era.
With the COVID 19 settling in and now becoming a part of our lives, Work from Home has become an inevitable solution. But, a few questions lurk in my mind. In recent weeks while interacting with families what grabbed my attention was – while Work from Home has brought a lot of flexibility to the corporate employees, there are tremendous challenges experienced at the homefront as a result.
While organizations are adopting WFH as the new normal, Is the current situation risking the Work- Home Balance? This question becomes very relevant, especially for families who have children in the age group of 4 – 10 years.
In today’s world, there is a growing trend of being independent. Nuclear family culture and migration to cities and metros to enhance earning potential and standard of living has become the norm. But with these moves there are few things which get tagged along – weaker support systems, both spouses employed to make ends meet or otherwise, enhanced cost of living, having to cope with peer pressure, the upbringing of children especially infants, toddlers, kids of age groups up to 10 yrs and also kids with special needs …to name a few.
A debate spread out in our community, especially with respect to parents with young kids and special needs. We hear stories of kids meeting with accidents and unfortunate incidents due to a lack of attention amidst tight overlapping schedules. It is difficult to bridle their energy levels at such tender ages. They need to spend this energy productively. Some parents are taking the easy way out with gadgets and devices. Being cloistered inside the house is not helping these children in any way. Until now, where professional services like schools for special needs, daycare services, creches were available, they are now being confined within the four walls of their homes.
In the formative years especially in the age group of 4 – 8 yrs, kids are like sponges and the environment/ atmosphere they are exposed determines their future molding, thinking process, and development. Environments like Day Cares and schools help kids learn social behavior and positive interaction. They also learn to adapt to situations, circumstances, and more importantly build their experience base, which helps in building his/her character and personality.
With Work from Home, young parents are really struggling to give the required attention to their children as well as manage the professional and household works. It is quite a balancing act and really taking a toll on the parents. Hence, it is hardly surprising that parents are evaluating options for leaving their jobs to take care of their children. It then poses a larger question, would such decisions have a larger impact on society and economic situation in general?
Hence the question I would like to post today is, Do we need to keep the daycares/ Creches / Schools for Special needs open during the pandemic or not?
