Patterns in Receiving Informal Help with Childcare among US Parents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Pandemic-related school and formal childcare closures have increased the demand for informal (i.e., unregulated or unpaid) childcare, including care from nannies, tutors, extended family members, siblings, friends, neighbors, and pandemic pods. Drawing on a novel survey of 1954 U.S. parents, we are the first to examine U.S. parents’ use of informal childcare during the pandemic. During the early stages of the pandemic, approximately 60% of US parents received informal support with childcare, mostly from older children and extended family members. The types of informal care that parents used differed by socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity. Among parents employed pre-pandemic and mothers of young children who had a job exit during COVID-19, receiving informal childcare was associated with longer work hours in December 2020. We discuss the implications of these patterns for maternal employment and the roles of grandparents and teens in providing informal care during the pandemic.