Parents are panicking about this school year for two very different reasons
Parents are worried sick about their children getting sick if classrooms reopen this school year. But those same parents are fearful about their finances if their children stay home any longer.
A new Debt.com survey asked nearly 600 parents about the emotional and financial impact of their school-aged children returning to their classrooms for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic shut them down six months ago.
Half of parents from the poll are “very worried” about their kids’ health if they go back to school
1 out of 10 parents will quit their job if their kids can’t go back to school
More than half of parents expect to miss out on more than 10% of their income if their child(ren) can’t go back to school
More than a quarter of single parents will lose more than half of their income
Those who can work from home earn significantly more money
Meanwhile, those who will need to quit or cut back hours earn significantly less money
Methodology: Debt.com survey of 1,326 people, with 590 people being parents of children in elementary, middle, or high school. The survey was fielded July 22-August 6, 2020. More than 63 percent of respondents are married, 24 percent are single, 8 percent are co-parenting and 4 percent identified as other.