Introduction from Jason Elsom
T oo often parents are overlooked when it comes to big policy debates , so we designed the National Parent Survey ( NPS ), the UK ’ s largest poll of its kind , to give parents a voice in policy decisions that affect them or their children . This year , we commissioned YouGov to speak with 5,490 parents across all four nations , to enable us to publish a ‘ UK NPS ’, an NPS for Scotland , Wales , Northern Ireland , London , parents of children eligible for Free School Meals , and parents of children with Special Educational Needs . These will be accessible free of charge at www . nationalparentsurvey . com . Further , we are publishing the full data set on the same site to enable others to examine data specific to their own needs .
Whilst the 2023 NPS focused primarily on parents ’ views of their children and their children ’ s education , this year we have asked parents to tell us more about the challenges they face themselves .
We are grateful to policymakers , researchers , educators , parents , and others for reading the 2023 NPS at least seven thousand times and thrilled to see policymakers reflect its findings in launching policies , or commencing the review of policies , relating to poverty , smartphone use by children , the cost of school uniform , and outdoor education . We hope that you will find the 2024 NPS useful in your work and welcome your feedback .
Parents are struggling with the cost of living
This year ’ s National Parent Survey shows us that parents are still struggling with the cost-of-living crisis , with a third of parents telling us they are struggling to make ends meet . Four million parents told us they have less than £ 500 in the bank for a rainy day , while the poorest parents have skipped meals and rationed heating to pay household bills . When it comes to school costs , it isn ’ t just uniform that is a major worry for parents – they tell us school trips are a big concern too . All the little extras demanded by schools quickly add up .
We need to make sure that the cost of school is part of any approach to reducing poverty . Parentkind is calling on governments to establish independent advisory bodies on the cost of school , which should publish an annual assessment and make recommendations to ministers on how to reduce school costs .
We also need to recognise the potential role of Parent Teacher Associations ( PTAs ) in helping parents in need with the introduction of a new match funding proposal recommended by Parentkind . This ‘ Parent Fundraising Guarantee ’ would incentivise new PTAs in the poorest communities to set up and raise money for schools to support enrichment , school trips and help with school uniform costs .
Helping parents to balance work , life and family time
We champion flexible working , because it works for parents . All of our staff work remotely and this year ’ s survey discovers that half of working parents are now working at home , some or all of the week , and more than eight in ten say this helps them better balance being a parent with a job .
A third of working parents have reduced their hours , but worryingly , a third of parents working part-time say doing so has hurt their career prospects .
We need to change the way we think about work to help parents , with an expectation that home working is a default where it can be . We want to see governments be much more active in changing the conversation on working from home to help parents , both mums and dads , to balance work , life and family time .
Cracking down on social media and smartphones
Last year we discovered that the amount of time children spend on smartphones and screens was a huge worry for parents . This year we have looked more closely at this issue .
Almost half of all families are now regularly arguing over the amount of time their children spend on
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