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Lone parent families and COVID-19

Lone parent families and COVID-19

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 In episode 7 of the Generation Pandemic podcast we focus on how COVID-19 has doubled down on lone parent families. Joining host Catherine McDonald are Professor Susan Harkness from the University of Bristol; Dr Jim Kaufman from the COVID Realities project; Niamh Kelly, Policy Manager at One Family Ireland and Stacey, a lone parent of two children. Following a first hand account from Stacey as to how her family experienced the pandemic, the panel discuss whether it was inevitable that lone parents would experience the pandemic in the way they did and how we ensure they don't experience it in the same way should it happen again.   Transcript Catherine McDonald  0:04  Hello, and welcome to Generation Pandemic, a podcast from the Interdisciplinary Child Wellbeing Network, looking at the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on children in the UK and Ireland. I'm Catherine McDonald, and today we're looking at how the pandemic has affected lone parent families. Joining me are Professor Susan Harkness from the University of Bristol, Dr. Jim Kaufman from the COVID Realities project and Niamh Kelly, Policy Manager at One Family Ireland. We're going to start though by hearing from Stacey, a lone parent of two children, who begins by talking us through her experiences of parenting during the pandemic. Stacey  0:44  At first, I guess it was exciting because I was furloughed. It was a break that I wouldn't have normally had. I was at home with their kids, summer was coming, it was it was getting warmer, and it all felt a bit new. And just like a bit of a rest, didn't expect it to go on that long either. So it didn't matter. But then as time sort of went on, and it become harder to shop, and then you couldn't go out. And there was no childcare. And you were stuck in the house with the children who were bored and sad and missing their friends at school and it become harder and harder to manage everything. And it was lonely, really lonely. And there hasn't been a time where I felt so on my own for so long. Catherine McDonald  1:29  And I guess what a lot of us felt whatever our home situation is that there was no definition to the day was there? There was no sort of segmentation where people are coming in or going out, or it's bath time or bedtime, or it just all seemed to be one big day. Stacey  1:45  Exactly that there was no routine. And the days just sort of rolled into each other in the end. But it didn't make a difference whether it's the weekend or whether it was a Wednesday, like who knew what day of the week it was because every single day just become the same. And it didn't feel at that point that there was an end in sight for it. Catherine McDonald  2:03  Now, am I right in saying that you've got two children, and they're both primary school age? Stacey  2:09  Yes. So at the start of COVID, they were three and five, I think. Catherine McDonald  2:13  Wow. So actually, you had a preschool child and a primary school child? Stacey  2:17  Yes. Catherine McDonald  2:17  So how did you approach homeschooling? How did that go? Stacey  2:22  It was tough. I had one child that wasn't at school that wanted to get involved with everything the eldest was doing. And I don't understand the work they do at the moment - it is much, much different to when I was at school. So it was a learning curve for me. And it was stressful. Because I still had stuff to do. There was stuff that I still had to get involved in from my job, and trying to juggle the children and schooling and housework and trying to get shopping done on my own with no help no support because we weren't allowed to see anyone. It was hard work. And it was stressful. Catherine McDonald  2:58  And how quickly did that beginning to take its toll? Stacey  3:02  By the end of the year of the first lockdown it felt like I was gonna have a mental breakdown. At some points where I was spending hours and hours with the eldest trying to get her to do her schoolwork. The nights were drawing in it was freezing cold. And it felt like COVID had sort of gone on forever.  Catherine McDonald  3:21  And you mentioned earlier that there was no sort of childcare to rely obviously we'd lost the school provision. We weren't allowed in each other's homes. Can you talk to me a little bit about those extra services and that extra practical help that you usually rely upon that you had to do without during the lockdowns? Stacey  3:40  So being the lone parent, the children used to go to family, at least every other weekend. At school, they'd have breakfast club, and all of that was taken away. And it just become me and them. So I would go for days without speaking to an adult. The only time I might speak to somebody is if I was in the shop on my once a week shopping trip. And I felt like I lost part of my identity during lockdown. Catherine McDonald  4:05  That part of your identity that we get through socialising and being with the people who make us who we are...
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