Mum and Dad feel MIA
A new study reveals that under-pressure parents feel they are dropping the ball with raising their kids
MUMS and dads feel they’re “missing in action” on the parenting front as they struggle against a rising tide of work and cost-of-living pressures.
An exclusive survey reveals the emergence of MIA parents battling to be hands-on at home with their school-aged children.
The Fonto survey found a whopping 80 per cent of Aussie parents felt they were missing in action at least some times.
Two-thirds of MIA parents put this down to work pressures, with the survey also showing 45 per cent of parents of school-aged kids had increased their work hours to keep up with soaring living expenses.
More than half of parents polled said cost-of-living pressures had left them with less time to help their children with reading, spelling and homework, while 85 per cent said they craved more time to support their kids’ learning.
The results come as Kids News prepares on Monday to launch the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee, a free online competition aiming to boost spelling skills in year 3-8 students.
Parenting author and Enlighten Education chief executive Dannielle Miller said the work-fromhome trend meant many parents were around more, but not necessarily more available for their kids.
“Many of us are understandably feeling less than attentive,” she said. “Parents are coping with supporting the sick ... as well as the financial pressures of rising interest rates and rents.”
Education expert Dr Prue Salter of Enhanced Learning Educational Services said switched-on parents were key to success at school.
“Parents play a pivotal role, particularly in the early years of high school, in helping students establish regular home study habits, plan their time, manage distractions, and stay focused on completing their home learning,” she said.
Professor Pamela Snow, of La Trobe University’s School of Education said parents should read with their children most nights, well after they had learned to read independently.
The survey of more than 1500 parents of school-aged children also found 67 per cent found it increasdifficult to balance work and home life.
Work pressures were the most common reason parents felt unavailable for their kids, at 66 per cent.
This was followed by 41 per cent who said their children’s screen time got in the way, 21 per cent who found caring for younger children a distraction and 20 per cent who said their kids didn’t want them involved.
Just 17 per cent said they never felt like a missing-in-action parent.
Ms Miller said parents were “responding in an incredibly human way to these unprecedented pressures” and feeling guilty was the last thing they needed.
“You won’t have anything to give if you are burnt out,” she said.
Channel 7 newsreader and mum of three Jodie Speers said moments of MIA parenting were “such a horingly rible feeling”. Married to TV and radio host Ben Fordham, juggling young children and work schedules, Speers said, “balance is a myth”.
“We all have that nagging feeling of guilt … maybe I should have started him on AFL earlier or we should be doing Nippers or we don’t do any music,” she said. “With my son, now he’s in year 2 and I have younger children, I do neglect him a little bit and I feel a bit guilty about that.”