Parents believe they need wider support system to raise kids than earlier generations did: survey

Seven in 10 parents believe that raising children today requires a wider circle of trust than it did a generation ago, according to new research.In a nationwide poll of 2,000 parents of children ages 0 to 6, 71% feel they must place more trust and confidence in others to support their child’s well-being than their parents did.Many parents polled are in a dual-income household (28%) or are single parents (22%).Fewer households have one full-time working parent and one stay-at-home parent (18%), one full-time working parent and one part-time working parent (11%) or two part-time working parents (11%).Nine in ten dual-income households say they work out of necessity, highlighting the critical role trusted childcare plays in helping parents participate in the workforce.Conducted by Talker Research on behalf of The Goddard School, the survey explored all of the lengths parents are going to ensure their children get the best care possible.According to the results, most parents use some form of childcare (82%), ranging from immediate family members (43%) and friends (25%) to early childhood education providers (24%), traditional daycares (19%) and nannies or dedicated babysitters (14%).One-quarter of those who use a childcare provider say that without it, one parent would need to reduce their work hours (27%), while others say that one parent would have to leave the workforce entirely (26%); a further 35% say both parents would need to adjust their schedules.With so much riding on their child’s care providers, these decisions weren’t made overnight.

In order to make sure they trusted who they were leaving their child with, many researched their child’s care provider on their websites (27%), had phone conversations (26%) and even reviewed their social media channels (26%) before making their choice.Parents who send their child to an early childhood education provider or traditional daycare spent, on average, nearly a full workweek (39 hours) researching options bef...