The vast majority of families would be impacted financially by unexpected childcare needs caused by illness or accidents, according to new research from protection and employee benefits provider MetLife UK.
The research found that 79% of parents would be impacted financially by surprise childcare costs, with a quarter of working parents concerned about the impact of taking time off work to care for an unwell child.
A big concern for working parents
The research highlighted a major gap in many families' financial planning, as most respondents claimed that they would have to make immediate adjustments to their day-to-day life in order to cover the costs associated with taking unpaid time off work to care for their child.
In fact a quarter (25%) would have to dip into their savings, and 16% said they would have to cut back on groceries and other household shopping.
Respondents also confirmed that they'd have to do things like pause household subscriptions, cancel extracurricular activities or clubs, and possibly ask family members for financial help.
Almost half (48%) of the people surveyed, many of whom either work part-time or are self-employed, admitted that they didn't have any savings put aside in case they need to take unpaid time off work or away from their business.
More worrying, 11% of people said they would need to borrow money to make ends meet, and 5% said they would potentially have to miss a mortgage or rent payment.
A weighty worry for the whole family
When a child is sick, it can be a challenging time, not just for them, but also their parents and the whole household.
There can be a lot of worry and uncertainty as well as changes in daily routines and all the new responsibilities and tasks people might have to take on without a lot of notice.
The financial impact of caring for an unwell child can make this emotional burden even greater.
In fact, the research found that a third of mothers surveyed said they would feel stressed and suffer sleepless nights, while a quarter of men say they'd feel depressed.
Parents also cited worries around deciding who should be the one to take time off, and the effect on their responsibilities and workload.
A unique solution with dedicated support
To support parents and relieve some of the stress they're facing, MetLife developed their simple and easy-to-use protection product ChildShield.
Unique to the market, it's been designed specifically to support families should their child or children have an accident or become seriously ill.
It provides financial protection in case a parent needs to take time off work, and aims to help with some of the stress and worry that the recent research has highlighted.
Because being a parent brings with it a lot of responsibility and stress.
And when trying to juggle work commitments, whether you're employed or self-employed, and combining that with having to take time off work to care for your child things can become even more challenging.
We want to help alleviate some of these stresses of parenthood, which is why ChildShield is so important.
By providing financial protection and peace of mind, parents can focus on what's really important - caring for their child. And not having to worry about making ends meet should they face loss of pay.
