Family reconciliation of daily life with children in primary education: impacts of confinement

Abstract

The forced confinement due to COVID-19 had a strong impact on the organization of citizens’ time, changed daily routines and posed important challenges for families. Thus, the aim of this paper is to analyze the reality of the work-life balance of families with children attending primary school in Spain, focusing on their main difficulties and on the study of family leisure time during this period. For this purpose, a descriptive quantitative methodology was used, making use of an ad hoc questionnaire applied telematically throughout the national territory. A total of 1,309 valid cases were obtained. The main results reveal that almost half of the participants felt that the reconciliation of their time worsened during confinement, with women being the ones who mostly saw their personal time reduced in order to attend to their different work and family responsibilities. Accompaniment in the completion of homework was the factor that most limited the management of family time and in which women were much more involved than parents, causing deep dissatisfaction in them as a result of the lack of time. For its part, confinement also influenced family leisure. During this period, families increased the time dedicated to sharing recreational activities, especially on weekends. In addition, they attached great importance to these shared times, claiming to have enjoyed them, which has had an impact on their personal growth. In conclusion, confinement had a significant and negative impact on the reconciliation of the families’ daily schedules, especially that of the mothers, and showed the importance of recovering time for shared family leisure.