• Financial strain due to job loss, layoffs, and pay cuts has placed a lot of stress on families.
• Routines around the home have shifted drastically, creating frustration and anxiety for parents and children.
• Creating zones and a schedule in the home can help mitigate issues with overcrowding.
• Remote learning and work-from-home policies have simultaneously made childcare and job responsibilities challenging for parents.
• Taking steps to ease the burden can help families adjust and find hope during this difficult time.
With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, life as people knew it had changed drastically. It’s been a tumultuous time for everyone, but families have felt the most significant impact. From changes in day-to-day routines to financial stressors to emotional turmoil, the last year has had an undeniable effect on families all over the world. Here’s a closer look at how this virus has impacted family life and what can be done to help mitigate its effects.
Financial Stressors
COVID-19 has caused widespread economic uncertainty that is affecting many families’ finances. Job loss, layoffs, and pay cuts have become commonplace—new financial difficulties and stressors come with them. As a result, many households struggle to make ends meet and have difficulty affording necessities like food and rent payments.
This financial strain can also lead to guilt among family members who can keep their jobs or even find new ones during this challenging period in history. Guilt can quickly turn into disagreements between family members that may not have come up in normal circumstances due to a lack of perspective or understanding.
Arduous Routines
The changing landscape of the pandemic has led many families to adjust their daily routines drastically—particularly if they have children who must now attend school from home or parents who must work from home while caring for small children. This shift in routines can cause additional stress for parents and children alike, often leading to frustration, boredom, loneliness, and anxiety.
It is essential for families facing these issues to remember that it is okay to take time for self-care during this difficult time when possible; taking breaks throughout the day for activities like exercise or an enjoyable hobby can help reduce stress levels and create a more balanced daily routine overall.
Home Problems
Space is essential in a household, especially during quarantine and isolation. With parents, children, and maybe even grandparents now living under the same roof, finding enough space for each person to feel comfortable without feeling crowded or overwhelmed can often be challenging. Here are three ways to deal with this problem:
Expand
One of the best ways to deal with the space issue in your home is to expand. Having spacious home additions to your existing home gives everyone more room to spread out and add privacy and comfort. From bedrooms to bathrooms to living rooms, adding new spaces in your home can help reduce stress levels and maintain balance within the family.
Create Zones
If expanding isn’t an option for you, creating zones within your existing living space is still possible. Dedicating certain home areas to various activities can help keep everyone in their bubble and give them more freedom to do what they want without feeling cramped or crowded.
Create a Schedule
Creating a schedule for each family member’s use of specific spaces can be incredibly helpful. When everyone knows who can use what space at what time, it helps create a sense of order and peace within the home—something that can be hard to come by during these chaotic times.
School Changes
One of the most significant changes for families is the switch from physical school to remote learning. Many schools closed during the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and transitioned to remote teaching methods such as video conferencing or digital lessons.
For those with children in grade school, this meant adjusting to a new way of doing things with their children’s education.
Parents have had to become more involved in their children’s schooling than ever before, often taking on additional tasks such as supervising online classes or helping with assignments. This can be time-consuming and emotionally taxing for parents with full-time jobs outside the home.
Workplace Changes
The workplace has also changed due to the pandemic. To protect employees and customers alike, businesses switched to work-from-home policies if possible.
Unfortunately, this resulted in many parents juggling their job responsibilities while providing childcare throughout the day—a task that can be extremely difficult under these new circumstances. It also means that parents do not get a break from work even when they are at home with their kids, leading some people to feel overwhelmed by all their responsibilities during this crisis.
The reality is that COVID-19 has had an undeniably difficult impact on families worldwide. some steps can be taken to mitigate some of these issues and help make life a little easier during these trying times. Whether it’s creating zones in the home or implementing a new schedule, families can take action to improve their situation during this pandemic and find hope in an otherwise difficult time.
