Finnish parents’ reasons for keeping their children at home during the COVID-19 lockdown

This study investigates parents’ childcare decisions during the partial COVID-19 lockdown in spring 2020 in Finland. Specifically, we explored (1) parents’ reasons for keeping their five-year-old child at home rather than sending them to early childhood education and care (ECEC) (2) dimensions identified in terms of the reasons, and (3) families’ socio-demographic characteristics associated with the dimensions. The participants in this study consisted of 1,068 parents of children who attended ECEC before the pandemic. These parents were from various regions across Finland. Data gathered through questionnaires were analysed by using descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis. The results showed that the two main reasons for keeping children at home were the recommendations from the government and keeping the child safe, which were obvious, as the situation was exceptional, and the recommendations were strong. Further analysis revealed four dimensions of the reasons, which were Protection and prevention, Recommendations, Avoidance of changes in ECEC, and Realised risk of COVID-19. Parents’ socio-demographic backgrounds played a minor role in parents’ reasons, highlighting the equality among the families involved in the study in terms of their reasons to keep their children at home.