Patterns in Receiving Informal Help with Childcare Among US Parents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Pandemic-related school and childcare closures have increased the demand for informal (i.e., unregulated or unpaid) childcare, including care from nannies, tutors, extended family members, siblings, friends, neighbors, and pandemic pods. Drawing on a novel survey of more than 2,000 U.S. parents, we are the first to examine U.S. parents’ use of informal support with childcare and/or remote learning. We found that between February and December 2020, approximately 60 percent of US parents received informal support with childcare, mostly from older children and extended family members. The types of informal care that parents used, however, differed along social class and racial/ethnic lines and did so in ways that were different from the pre-pandemic patterns. Further analyses also revealed that, among mothers who lost or left jobs during the pandemic, those who received informal support with childcare were working significantly more hours for pay in December 2020. We discuss the implications of these patterns for maternal employment as well as for the grandparents and the teens who played a critical role in helping parents with informal care during the pandemic.