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

Pandemic-related school and 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 1,954 U.S. parents, we are the first to examine U.S. parents’ use of informal childcare. Between February and December 2020, approximately 60 percent 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 preschool-aged 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 as well as for the grandparents and the teens who played a critical role in helping parents with informal care during the pandemic.