When the summer holidays roll around each year, most families are more than aware that there will be some trying times ahead. However, according to research from childcare service Koru Kids, parents are expected to feel extra strain this year.
Of the 2,000 parents that Koru Kids spoke to, 57% felt that their careers were affected by the stress caused by summer holidays.
It’s not just the conflicting demands of children and employers that parents have to deal with, either. Parents have to take on average five days unpaid leave each summer to cover childcare and over half of parents struggle to take time off together.
These difficulties put a dampener on what should be fun days for families
While summer holidays give children a chance to reset and have fun, the pressures on parents mean that these opportunities are unfortunately quite limited.
Over half of the parents that spoke with Koru Kids admitted that their plans were basically a non-starter from the get-go and more than 2 in 5 families just cannot go on a family holiday together over the summer.
Even when parents do get time at home with their children, there is often one parent taking over both parenting and household chores, leaving little room for fun and activities.
Rachel Carrell, Founder of Koru Kids Said: “The summer holidays are knocking the wind out of parents’ sails across the country. Meanwhile, the government’s childcare policies seem to ignore the pressures of the holidays completely.”
Carrell highlighted that there are 13 weeks of school holidays in the UK but only on average 6 weeks available to parents.
She said: “As a result, parents are stressed to the max, out of pocket financially and losing out on precious time together as a family as parents pool together to try and cover as much childcare as possible in these 6 long summer weeks.”
She continues, “Childcare funding needs to be available all year round, not just in term time, and at rates that make holiday care affordable for families.”