Parenting and parent–child home practice during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case in central China

Abstract

The current study aims to explore parents’ perceptions of parenting and parent–child activities at home with children aged 3–6 during the pandemic in China. A parenting survey was conducted to investigate parental role, age, educational background, work productivity, and different parenting categories during the lockdown period. We also examined the experiences of young children’s participation in extracurricular activities before and after the stay-at-home policy was implemented as well as their activities with parents during the lockdown period. The results showed that parents’ work productivity affected their perceptions of well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Children spent less time on extracurricular activities during the lockdown period, but some particular activities increased in frequency, especially academic extracurricular activities.