Poll also finds a third of parents give schools low grades in academic and mental health support areas
Boston, MA—A new poll released today by the National Parents Union shows just how much parents nationwide are worried about inflation. According to the survey, 75% of parents say they’re concerned about the rising cost of everyday purchases like food and gas. More than half of parents (51%) have changed or canceled their summer plans for a family trip and four-in-ten have changed or canceled extracurricular activities for their children because of inflation.
A quarter of all parents surveyed even say they’ll spend less time at home with their family because they have to work extra hours to cover household costs and 20% of parents surveyed report that their child has to get a summer job when they wouldn’t otherwise.
“Families across the country are facing a summer of misery,” said Keri Rodrigues, co-founder and President of the National Parents Union. “Parents are being pulled away from spending quality time with their children, forced to work extra hours to cover the rising costs of everyday goods. And then they’re met with empty shelves when they need to buy basic necessities like baby formula. The dream of a family trip this summer has now been replaced with the nightmare of a looming recession. Democrats cannot claim to be the party of the working class unless they drop the finger-pointing and start prioritizing solutions.”
In the poll, parents also issued their year-end report card, with a third or more giving schools a “C”, “D” or “F” in the following areas:
Rodrigues added, “There seems to be this creeping sense among some that it’s safe to return to the status quo in education, as if only a third of parents concerned with their school’s performance in these key areas is something to celebrate. On the contrary, we’re not going to sit idle while these schools fail to address issues like learning loss and mental health. In the face of this attempt by entrenched interests to pretend the last two years never happened, we’re going to continue to hold school leaders accountable and ensure children are being given the support and resources they deserve.”
Parents also graded the performance of individuals for how they handled education, with teachers receiving the highest grades and President Biden receiving the lowest.
1,000 parents of K-12 students
Field Dates: May 6-10, 2022
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ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARENTS UNION
The National Parents Union is a network of highly effective parent organizations and grassroots activists across the country that is united behind a set of common goals and principles to channel the power of parents. Our family advocates improve the quality of life for children across the United States and define the education conversation. https://nationalparentsunion.org/