Household’s Stressors and Well-Being During the Global COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Home environments suffered a range of stressors during COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines the impact of these stressors on children’s well-being by households’ conditions. Participants included main caregivers (N = 615) with a child under the age of 3 in a developing Latin-American country. We use multivariate analysis to explore associations between these shocks, the childrearing environment, and children’s well-being. We find that households with lower education and recipients of government assistance were more exposed to negative shocks linked to COVID-19. However, the most educated households were more likely to face an increased burden of childcare. Exposure to negative shocks was associated with a deterioration in the emotional well-being of adults, a higher prevalence of intra-family violence, and behavioral changes in children. Households that reported more time spent caring for children, as well as difficulties in combining care and work, showed higher levels of parental depression and worse indicators of parenting quality. We observe a drop in the frequency of parental involvement in didactic and socializing activities with their children, and a poorer mental health status for the main caregiver (mostly mothers).