Do you think that our country is at the bottom of the world in work and family conciliation? Well, this is how Spanish parents who have participated in a large study, The Parenting Index , promoted by Nestlé, see it to learn about the facilities and difficulties that parents encounter at this stage.
According to the responses of 8,000 fathers and mothers, with babies from 0 to 12 months and from 16 different countries, only 36% of Spaniards perceive that it is easy to reconcile work with parenting, only However, 64% of the Spaniards believe that the responsibilities of caring for children are equally distributed in the couple.
But we are neither the best nor the worst …
The first in the division of tasks and the last in conciliation
The Parenting Index has identified the eight factors that influence the perception of parenting that fathers and mothers have around the world, although according to Fernando Carvalho, director of Child Nutrition at Nestlé Spain, “the study does not analyze whether to have children in one country or another is easier or more difficult and does not judge or assess what is right and wrong “:
“It simply tries to listen, know and quantify the perception that parents have about it. We want to know what they feel and think in order to take specific actions that can help them.”
These are the most outstanding conclusions of the study , according to the responses of the respondents:
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Sweden is the country where it is easier to be parents while it is in China where families see the most difficulties.
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Spain leads in the distribution of tasks between parents and obtains the second best score in the ranking of countries surveyed.
Although there is still a long way to go, 64% of Spaniards affirm that the responsibilities of caring for children are equally distributed between the two members of the couple. In fact, since January of this year, the duration of the birth permit (16 weeks) for both parents has been equated.
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Spanish parents positively perceive access to resources in health and well-being. More than 80% believe that an adequate health system for children is within their reach.
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Spain has obtained the penultimate worst score in the ranking of countries regarding work-life balance. Only 36% of the surveyed Spaniards consider that they can reconcile their profession with parenting: 15 points below the average and up to 31 points less than Sweden, the country where, according to the data obtained, they see more facilities to raise children .
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Spain, along with China and Israel, has the highest proportion of new fathers and mothers who work full time.
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Only 4 out of 10 Spanish families affirm that they do have a favorable environment to do activities with their children : parks, classes, cultural offerings …
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Only 6 out of 10 parents consider that their child sleeps well , a perception that places Spain in fifth position from behind in this area.
Confinement did not change how parents feel about parenting
The initial survey of this study was carried out in January and February 2020, before the beginning of the restrictions and measures adopted by the countries to stop the advance of the coronavirus.
So, with the pandemic, he conducted 900 additional interviews with parents from the countries most affected during the first wave (China, Spain and the United States) to study the impact it was having on families.
Based on the data obtained, confinement did not change how parents feel about their parenting experience. In any case, the small variations shown were positive since the parents claimed to have supported each other more and showed greater cohesion and a sense of belonging.
In fact, the pressure on parents , both externally and on themselves, is the biggest problem they encounter regardless of their country of origin:
- More than 50% of those surveyed around the world say they feel social pressure.
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More than half of those surveyed admit that they have made more commitments than expected.
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32% of new parents feel lonely at this stage , despite living in a hyper-connected world.
The Director of Child Nutrition at Nestlé Spain has advanced that the company will promote ‘The Parenting Index’, every two or three years, to “create a roadmap for change since we have comparable and quantifiable data to see how we evolve. over the years. “
Vía | The Parenting Index
Photos | iStock
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