That saying about how it takes a village to raise a child isn’t just some old proverb, it’s a way of life for many families. Raising kids requires all hands on deck and a new survey looks into how working parents utilize their village and who’s in it.
According to the poll of 2-thousand working parents of kids under the age of 10:
- The average working parent relies on six different people to help support their child’s growth and development.
- These people include the kid’s grandparents (46%), extended family like aunts, uncles and cousins (27%), siblings (26%), their best friend (17%) and neighbors (8%).
- Teachers (47%) are also a part of many parents’ inner support circle, as are the faculty at their child’s school (33%).
- Kids spend an average of four days a week with people in their support system, but 16% of parents say they depend on their village every day.
- The assistance isn’t always enough, which is why 29% of working parents feel like they need a second version of themselves to get it all done and 36% need a larger village.
- About a third (32%) worry most about the quality of the education or child care their child is getting and the average working parent stresses about childcare six days every month.
- Dads tend to stress more than moms when it comes to communicating with their child’s caregivers (29% versus 17%).
- In general, 53% of working parents admit that their stress levels keep them from being the parent they want to be.
Source: SWNS Digital