California [US], November 3 : According to a poll 40 per cent of parents who worked remotely during the pandemic experienced higher parental stress, compared to only 27 per cent of parents who worked onsite.
The findings revealed a gender difference: fathers who worked from home were twice as likely as fathers who worked onsite to report that parenting was difficult all or most of the time. Parenting stress was marginally higher for moms who worked from home, but it did not achieve statistical significance.
There were no variations in mental or general health between parents who worked remotely or onsite, according to the study.
The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
"Our survey results show that teleworking during the pandemic was associated with more parenting stress, especially for fathers," said lead author John James Parker, MD, a paediatrician at Lurie Children's, an internist at Northwestern Medicine and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
"This might be a reflection of societal expectations that men should prioritize work obligations over family needs, which creates additional stress for fathers working from home. We recommend that parents reflect on their family and work situation and try to find an arrangement that limits stress and promotes well-being.
This can be as simple as putting a noise cancelling machine in the workspace, rearranging schedules to limit distractions and planning time for parents to step away from work to be fully engaged with their children.
The survey included 1,060 parents from all 77 neighbourhoods in Chicago. "Employers could provide support to fathers by offering more flexibility and recognizing that both parents need more work/life balance. Employers also could encourage parents who work from home, especially men, to take advantage of employee assistance programs if they are experiencing high levels of stress," added Dr. Parker.
"This is important since parents' stress is linked to negative parental health and child developmental outcomes."
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