Disadvantaged Aussie mums are doing it tough during COVID

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-09-14 04:00

Australia; NSW; VIC; ACT

An Australian study of disadvantaged mums has found that almost a third have experienced job or income loss, and 4 in 10 experienced family stress over an 8 month period during the COVID pandemic. Half of the mothers reported that their child’s at-home learning often or almost always made their usual duties more difficult. The study also found many mothers said their family found good ways of coping during this period. Mothers who had to self-quarantine, faced financial hardship, or experienced family stress tended to report poorer mental health. The authors say these impacts are likely to exacerbate inequities arising from adversity.

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conference: PLOS ONE

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), The University of Melbourne, Deakin University, Western Sydney University, Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth

Funder: “right@home” is funded by the Victorian Department of Education and Training (https://www.education.vic.gov.au/), the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services (https://www.health.tas.gov.au/, the Ian Potter Foundation (https://www.ianpotter.org.au/), Sabemo Trust, Sidney Myer Fund (https://www.myerfoundation.org.au/), the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation (https://vfff.org.au/) and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC, Project Grant 1079148 - https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/). The right@home COVID-19 data collection was supported by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/), Morgan Stanley (https://www.morganstanley.com.au/) and the Vincent Chiodo Charitable Trust. Research at the MCRI is supported by the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program. FM is supported by NHMRC Career Development Fellowship 1111160. SG is supported by NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship 1155290. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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