The impact of the March 2020 Covid lockdown on parent-child relationships

The Covid pandemic had a profound impact on both family and school life, including the closure of educational settings and the transfer of children's education to a home setting ('home schooling'). This presentation formed part of a symposium at the BERA conference 2022 and shared the findings from a survey (n=3657) and interviews (n=11) of English participants conducted in summer 2020. The survey found a slim majority of parents felt that home schooling affected their parent-child relationship with reports of both increased tension and increased closeness. The interviews were analysed using Foucauldian Discourse Analysis to present three profiles: 'the interested parent'; 'the exasperated home worker'; and 'dealing with dualities'. Implications for parent-child relations were then considered.