A new research by the US-based Pew Research Center \u2014 an independent think-tank that informs on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the world, through public opinion polls, demographic surveys and research \u2014 sheds light on the major concerns and hopes of parents for their children as they grow up in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
The survey revealed that parents were most concerned about their children\u2019s mental health, financial stability, and job satisfaction, and that they were less concerned about other markers of life success such as marriage, having children, or going to college.<\/p>\n
Among the more than 3,700 parents who took part in the survey conducted in the US, 4 in 10 said they were extremely or very worried about their children struggling with anxiety or depression. On the other hand, parents were least concerned with their children getting in trouble with the police \u2014 with 67 percent saying they were \u201cnot too\u201d or \u201cnot at all\u201d worried \u2014 while 54 percent said they were not worried about their kids getting pregnant or getting someone pregnant as a teen.<\/p>\n
Psychologists, social scientists and civil society organizations evaluating the research findings have voiced a spectrum of opinions. However, they all agreed that the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about an unprecedented shift in how people experience their daily lives. The level of control we felt we had over our lives evaporated with the pandemic, giving rise to the increased focus of parents on the mental health of their children. This shift in focus and the level of concern it has evoked is reflected in the increase in prevalence of mental health issues among adolescents, with rates of depression and anxiety among teenagers increasing at a faster rate than in adults. <\/p>\n
The survey also found that a vast majority of parents (88%) say their children\u2019s financial stability and job satisfaction as adults are very or extremely important to them. Only around 20 percent of parents said that it was essential for their kids to get married or have children when they grow up.<\/p>\n
The changes in societal expectations and values mirrored in the survey could be attributed to the pandemic, which caused life to slow down and allowed people and society time to rethink and pivot priorities. \u201cOnce people were removed from stressful, demanding, and unfulfilling work environments, it was difficult for them to return. We are starting to move away from the \u2018hustle\u2019 culture and place more emphasis on wellbeing and balance,\u201d said one social analyst. This emphasis on stability and satisfaction is a positive development considering that having one without the other could lead to discontentment,\u201d added the analyst. <\/p>\n
Among other findings from the Pew survey were that parents rated most highly that their children be honest and ethical, with an overwhelming 94 percent saying that honesty and being ethical were more important than other factors such as sharing the same religious beliefs (35%) or political beliefs (16%). While job and financial success was a strong hope across the board for parents, ensuring their kids get a college degree was much less so. Only 4 in 10 parents said their kids\u2019 earning a college degree is very important to them. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not surprising that parents are thinking outside of the college degree, as more and more young people are increasingly skeptical of the high school-to-college route and desire more flexible postsecondary education pathways,\u201d said a career planning company executive. In the spring of 2022, there were 662,000 fewer students enrolled in undergraduate programs in the US compared to the previous year, and in a recent study 47 percent of high schoolers said they were unlikely to attend college.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new research by the US-based Pew Research Center \u2014 an independent think-tank that informs on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the world, through public opinion polls, demographic surveys and research \u2014 sheds light on the major concerns and hopes of parents for their children as they grow up in the aftermath […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":120886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-health"],"yoast_head":"\n