Single-parent families see life stressful, face financial scarcity: THL

Up to 40 per cent of parents said they experience symptoms of exhaustion, and they also had other stress, according to a survey conducted by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

The FinChildren survey also found that single-parent families in particular reported health problems, loneliness and financial scarcity, said THL in a press release on Thursday.

More than one third of mothers who are the only parent in the family said they had to compromise on food or medicines due to lack of money. In addition, the only adults in the family often found interesting hobbies too expensive.

The majority of parents with preschool children who participated in the study, however, were satisfied with their lives.

More than 80 per cent of parents with preschool children are satisfied with their lives. Most respondents said they felt well and were optimistic about the future.

The survey was conducted last spring and 13 000 parents of children born in 2017 responded to it. That was 25 per cent of those invited to the study.

The majority of respondents stated that their family enjoys living in their neighbourhood.

Most parents have reliable loved ones with whom they can share their joys and sorrows, and who can also provide help if necessary.

“On the other hand, parents also had many kinds of mental stress and financial difficulties. The pre-primary education period, when the child prepares to start school and when the health inequalities of children begin to show, is a significant transition phase for the whole family. In order to optimally support families, it is important to collect information on this phase,” said Maaret Vuorenmaa, Senior Researcher of the FinChildren study.

According to the survey, preschool children spend a lot of time in front of a screen. Approximately half of the children have at least two hours of screen time on days off.

“Screen time often increases with age and causes a shortage of elements essential to the child’s wellbeing, such as sleep, exercise, play and other social interaction,” Vuorenmaa said.

“One way to attract children away from digital devices is to offer families interesting, affordable or free leisure activities in the immediate neighbourhood,” she added.

However, according to the survey, 81 per cent of preschool boys and 75 per cent of preschool girls perform high-paced physical activity for more than an hour on days off.

Parents mainly satisfied with maternity and child health clinic services and early childhood education and care – however, more support for parenthood is needed

Almost all respondents felt that the monitoring of the child’s growth at the child health clinic had been expert and that they had received sufficient professional support for it if necessary.

About 74 per cent of parents were satisfied with the attention given to the whole family at the maternity and child health clinic, and slightly under 70 per cent were satisfied with the parenthood support they received.

These areas emerged as the most vulnerable areas of health examinations in the survey. In addition, parents often failed to talk about the support they needed for managing and their relationship and, partly because of this, did not receive sufficient support.

“The experiences of parenthood are individual and change as the child grows. Identifying the parents’ personal needs and support for parenthood is one of the basic tasks of the maternity and child health clinic and a factor affecting the wellbeing of the whole family,” said Sanna Nieminen, Development Manager of THL.

According to the survey, up to 40 per cent of children had experienced bullying in early childhood education and care, at home or elsewhere.

“It would be absolutely essential to promote a safe growth environment for children and try to find more effective ways to prevent bullying,” said Vuorenmaa.

According to the survey, one in four mothers and one in five fathers had needed health and social services for everyday practical activities, as well as discussion and guidance.

However, up to half of the parents who had needed the services had failed to report the need for the services, and an unsatisfied need for the services was common.

“The results oblige us to strengthen the awareness about family services and their ability to respond to the needs of customer families. The ability of professionals to meet customers in a way that encourages parents to communicate their support needs must also be strengthened. Fortunately, the well-developed development work of family centres in regions has already strengthened customer-oriented service guidance and multidisciplinary cooperation between professionals,” said Hanne Kalmari, Development Manager of THL.

About 50,000 parents of children born in 2017 were invited to respond to the survey. Almost 13,000 parents responded, 64 per cent of whom were mothers and 36 per cent fathers or other parents.