This release is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example, new administrative data sources.
Survey respondents who had a child attending an early childcare or educational facility in March 2020 were asked what impact, if any, they believe that the periodic closures of these facilities in 2020 and 2021 has had on their child’s social development, education and learning, and future career prospects. Questions relating to the impact on education and learning were limited to parents of children who were in primary, secondary or third level (including post-secondary) education and parents who had a child in a special school in March 2020, while questions relating to the perceived impact of education facility closures on their child’s future career prospects were limited to parents who had a child attending a post-secondary/third-level institute at that time.
Seven in ten (71%) parents believe that the social development of at least one of their children has been negatively impacted by the periodic closures of early childcare and educational facilities in 2020 and 2021.
Parents with a child attending a special school in March 2020 were most likely (82%) to report that school closures have had a Negative impact on their child’s social development. See figure 2.1 and table 2.4.
| Can't say/Don't know | No impact | Negative impact | Positive impact | |
| Post-secondary/third-level institute | 10 | 19 | 69 | 2 |
| Special school | 7 | 7 | 82 | 5 |
| Secondary school | 4 | 18 | 75 | 3 |
| Primary school | 7 | 25 | 66 | 2 |
| Early childcare facility | 13 | 25 | 57 | 5 |
A higher percentage of parents with a child attending secondary school in March 2020 reported that school closures have had a Negative impact on their child’s social development compared with parents of children attending a primary school at that time (75% versus 66%). Seven in ten (70%) parents with a child attending a post-secondary/third level institute in 2020 feel that their child’s social development has been negatively impacted. See figure 2.1 and tables 2.2, 2.3, 2.5.
One in four (25%) parents who had a child attending either an early childcare facility or primary school prior to the pandemic feel that the periodic closures have had No impact on their child’s social development. The comparable rate for parents with a child in a special school is 7%. See figure 2.1 and tables 2.1, 2.2, 2.4.
Despite most parents reporting a negative impact on their child’s social development, analysis by educational facility shows that parents of a child who was in early childcare or a special school in March 2020 had the highest proportion (5% for both) reporting that the periodic closures of these facilities have had a Positive impact on their child’s social development. In comparison, 2% of parents with a child in tertiary or post-secondary education believe that educational facility closures have impacted positively on their child’s social development. See figure 2.1 and tables 2.1, 2.4, 2.5.
Most parents believe the periodic closures of educational facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively impacted their children’s education and learning but to a lesser degree than their children’s social development. Almost seven in ten (68%) respondent parents with a child in education in March 2020 believe that at least one of their children’s education and learning has been negatively impacted by school closures.
| Can't say/Don't know | No impact | Negative impact | Positive impact | |
| Post-secondary/third-level institute | 9 | 28 | 58 | 5 |
| Special school | 2 | 24 | 71 | 3 |
| Secondary school | 5 | 21 | 70 | 4 |
| Primary school | 6 | 26 | 65 | 3 |
More than seven in ten (71%) parents with a child in a special school in March 2020 reported a Negative impact on their child’s education and learning. A similar proportion, 70%, of parents of children attending secondary school at that time believe that their children’s education has been negatively impacted. This figure reduces to less than two in three (65%) respondents with a child in primary school and less than six in ten (58%) of those with a child in third level education. Almost three in ten (28%) parents of children in a post-secondary or third level institute feel that the closures of these facilities have had No impact on their children’s education and learning. See figure 2.2 and tables 2.6, 2.7, 2.8. 2.9.
Analysis by the sex of the respondent parent shows that, up until post-secondary education, similar proportions of both fathers and mothers reported a negative impact on their children’s social development and education and learning for each education stage. For example, 74% of fathers and 76% of mothers with a child in secondary school believe that secondary school closures have negatively impacted their child’s social development.
Mothers with a child in third level education are more likely to report that closures of these facilities have negatively impacted their child both socially and educationally compared with fathers. For example, nearly three in four (74%) mothers with a child attending a post-secondary/third level institute reported that closures have had a Negative impact on their child’s social development. This is ten percentage points higher than the figure reported for fathers (64%). Similarly, 62% of mothers with a child attending a post-secondary or third level institute report a Negative impact on their child’s education and learning which is nine percentage points higher than the comparable rate for fathers (53%). See figures 2.3, 2.4 and tables 2.5, 2.9.
| X-axis label | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Childcare facility | 56 | 58 |
| Primary school | 64 | 68 |
| Secondary school | 74 | 76 |
| Post-secondary/ third-level institute | 64 | 74 |
| X-axis label | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Primary school | 64 | 65 |
| Secondary school | 67 | 72 |
| Post-secondary/third-level institute | 53 | 62 |
Respondents were asked to rate the financial situation of their household in March 2020, with six possible responses ranging from very good to very bad. For this report, the responses have been re-grouped into three categories: Good (very good & good), moderate (moderately good & moderately bad) and bad (bad & very bad).
Respondent parents who rated the financial situation of the household in March 2020 as bad are most likely to report that their child(ren)’s education and learning has been negatively impacted because of school closures during the pandemic. For example, three in four (74%) parents who rated their pre-pandemic financial situation as bad believe primary school closures have negatively impacted their child’s education and learning. This compares with six in ten (61%) parents who rated their financial situation as good at that time. See figure 2.5 & table 2.6.
| Can't say/Don't know | No impact | Negative impact | Positive impact | |
| Bad | 1 | 19 | 74 | 5.98136043550631 |
| Moderate | 6 | 24 | 67 | 3 |
| Good | 6 | 30 | 61 | 3 |
Similarly, nearly eight in ten (78%) respondents with a child in secondary school and who rated their financial situation in March 2020 as bad report a Negative impact on their child’s education and learning compared with two in three (66%) of those who rated their financial situation as good. See figure 2.6 & table 2.7.
| Can't say/Don't know | No impact | Negative impact | Positive impact | |
| Bad | 5 | 16 | 78 | 1 |
| Moderate | 5 | 19 | 73 | 4 |
| Good | 5 | 25 | 66 | 4 |
Less financially well-off parents with younger children in March 2020 are also most likely to report that educational facility closures have had a Negative impact on their child’s social development. Eight in ten (80%) parents who rated their financial situation in March 2020 as bad and who had a child in primary school at that time, believe their children’s social development has been negatively impacted. The comparable rate for parents who rated the financial situation as good is 62%. See figure 2.7 and table 2.2.
Three in four (74%) parents who had a child in early childcare and who rated the financial situation of their household as bad at that time believe that early childcare facility closures have negatively impacted on their child’s social development, compared with just over half (52%) of parents who rated their household’s financial situation as good. See figure 2.8 and table 2.1.
| Can't say/Don't know | No impact | Negative impact | Positive impact | |
| Bad | 6.98978081366888 | 12 | 80 | 0.954027091264225 |
| Moderate | 7 | 23 | 69 | 2 |
| Good | 6 | 29 | 61.9723890804021 | 3 |
| Can't say/Don't know | No impact | Negative impact | Positive impact | |
| Bad | 6 | 11 | 74 | 9 |
| Moderate | 12 | 25 | 60 | 3 |
| Good | 14.9626100337116 | 27 | 52 | 6 |
Almost four in ten (38%) parents who had a child in third level education in March 2020 feel that the closures of post-secondary and tertiary educational facilities will have a Negative impact on their child’s career prospects. A slightly higher percentage (42%) feel that the closures will have No impact and 3% feel that educational facility closures will have a Positive impact. See figure 2.9 and table 2.10.
| X-axis label | Perceived impact |
|---|---|
| Positive impact | 3 |
| Negative impact | 38 |
| No impact | 42 |
| Can't say/Don't know | 16.9675775493992 |
There is no difference in the percentage of fathers and mothers (both 38%) who feel that the closures of post-secondary and third level institutes will have a Negative impact on their child’s career prospects. However, fathers are more likely to report No impact compared with mothers (45% versus 40%) and mothers were four times more likely to report a Positive impact on their child’s future career prospects (4% versus 1% for fathers).
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