- Parents in the US are at an impasse, as school closings and unreliable child care leave them with no choice but to abandon their children.
- It is common for parents to have support from their families in Italy.
- Latin America is a country where many parents value socialization. They encourage their children to have fun with their friends.
Parenting in a global pandemic is stressful. Parents in the United States, however, are constantly in crisis mode. Schools closings have led to a The childcare crisisMany daycares are closing and there is a shortage of reliable childcare. Parents are being forced to do it all.
In fact According to a 2021 According to a survey of parents from 42 countries, parental stress was highest in America. We spoke with parents from other countries who said they are coping well and were able to identify the reasons.
Strong support systems are common for Italian parents.
The Italian government demands Everyone, please don’t be afraid to show your faceCandice Criscione, an ex-pat living outside Florence, stated that vaccination is necessary to obtain a job or study at university. Many Italians have also received an immunization. excellent support systemShe said that raising children is her top priority.
“Here, you see grandparents picking up children after school and families trade-off with child care. If you need help, you won’t have trouble finding it,” Criscione said.
Even if parents feel exhausted from managing their jobs and caring for children, “there is a general consensus that sacrifices have to be made, and there’s trust in what scientists and authorities are communicating,”Katherine Wilson, who resides in Rome, said this.
“In the US, there is always pressure to do everything and at 110%,” said Criscione. That includes being amazing parentsTeachers, partners, employees, friends “Parents here are doing the best they can, but recognize that they can’t be perfect at every role, every day,”She said.
Argentine parents pooled their resources to tutor their children
Diana Bueno Bieletto from Mexico was at full alert during the pandemic. However, this fear has subsided. Bieletto stated that grandparents are a Mexican cultural norm and that parents don’t often prevent their children from interfacing.
“You see kids outside playing at playgrounds, malls, schools, beach, parks. I think we value socialization in Mexico even more than health.” Bieletto said.
Luis Enrique Rodriguez, a central Mexican resident, admitted that he sometimes feels tired but not exhausted. “I think culturally we have more support mechanisms than people in the US, and maybe we’re not so centered on fear. The first six months we were very strict about isolating, but then we started venturing [out] more and more, just hoping for the best,”Rodriguez.
Violeta Noetinger, mother of four from Argentina, found it exhausting to watch the pandemic’s onset. It is difficult to live in a society like this. Counts heavily on domestic assistance,was suddenly unavailable due to limited transportation, she said she felt “completely abandoned.”However, as the years passed, parents started to pool their resources.
“We hired private tutors for small groups at home — even going against local guidelines — to ensure that our kids had some kind of safe, limited, and somewhat periodic learning and social contact. If I have to think what saved us, it was the small groups we formed with other parents in order to help each other out,” Noetinger said.
A Swiss expat American sees more sense of collective responsibility from Switzerland’s American expats
Per Ola Wold-Olsen (a Norwegian father) said that people in Norway believe in him. Faith is a strong beliefin their government and institutions, something that has not changed since the pandemic.
Wold Olsen says he’s witnessed families adapt well to homeschooling or working remotely. “Mostly, parents are frustrated over how little we can go to the office, travel, and meet in large groups,” Wold-Olsen said.
Rachel Meyer, an American expat who lives in Switzerland, stated that she has noticed a sense in Switzerland of collective responsibility for public healthcare that is missing in the US. “The individualist spirit that drives partisan cultural divisions over mask mandates and vaccination resistance makes surviving the pandemic especially tough for American parents,”Meyer.
“Because government-run weekly mass tests and mandated student masks, children here in Switzerland has largely managed to keep their face-to-face schooling intactMeyer said that the pandemic has progressed over the years. Meyer said that this alone was a positive for students and parents mental well-being.
Meyer expressed gratitude to be able to see the pandemic in Switzerland and not the United States. “It’s hard to stay healthy when 50% of your community thinks COVID is a hoax.”