The home learning environment (HLE) plays a vital role in shaping children’s early development, literacy skills, and long-term life outcomes.
We have been tracking parents engage with their children’s literacy at home since 2019. In October 2024, we published new findings from our latest 2024 survey that revealed a downward trend in shared carer-child activities like talking, playing, reading, singing, and drawing.
The COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, and reductions in funding for early years services have likely had a profound impact on parental engagement with home learning activities. These challenges may have created additional financial and emotional stress for families, limiting their capacity to support their children’s early learning. Given these concerns, we sought to gain deeper insight the lived experiences behind these trends, particularly in the context of early language development.
Between January and February 2025, we talked to 17 parents across England about shared parent-child engagement in early learning activities and analysed the themes coming through from these conversations. These interviews revealed several reasons why parents have struggled to engage in early learning and literacy activities with their children in recent years.
Key Findings
Competing daily pressures make spending time engaging in learning activities challenging
- Parents consistently integrated learning into everyday routines, but many struggled with “the juggling act” of work, childcare, and household duties.
- Structured learning routines were harder to maintain due to shifting work patterns and rising costs of living, which led some parents to work more or return to work sooner than planned, thus reducing the time available to engage in shared parent-child activities.
Limited access to affordable activities and resources
- Families valued free and low-cost community-based activities, but many faced barriers such as cost, transport, and reduced access due to service cuts (e.g. library closures).
- A lack of affordable, flexible local provision limited parents’ options to support their child’s development outside the home.
Uncertainty and confidence gaps
- Some parents, including those with neurodiverse backgrounds or their own literacy struggles, felt unsure about how to support their child’s learning effectively.
- Many did not know where to turn for trusted advice, particularly when family or professional support was limited.
Mental health and emotional wellbeing matter
- Stress, exhaustion, and mental health issues made it harder for some parents to engage in structured learning activities.
- Feelings of isolation were common, especially when emotional and social support networks were lacking.
Navigating digital worlds - opportunity and challenge
- Parents recognised that screens are part of modern childhood. While digital tools can support learning, many felt unsure about managing screen time in healthy, balanced ways.
- Some used online platforms to seek advice and support, though this sometimes led to unhelpful comparisons and mixed messages.
What helps parents support early learning?
- Despite challenges, parents showed strong commitment and creativity in supporting their children’s learning.
- Supportive resources—like libraries, schools, and community services—played a key role in helping families stay engaged.
- Informal networks of friends, family, practitioners, and online communities were also important sources of ideas and reassurance.
These findings offer a snapshot of how families are navigating early literacy today. They highlight the need for support that reflects the realities of daily family life and celebrates the resilience, adaptability, and care that parents bring to their children’s early development.
What are we doing about it?
Our Early Words Matter campaign is working to support 250,000 pre-school children, with a focus on those growing up in areas of financial disadvantage, to support early years educators and families with events, activities and resources designed to support shared parent-child engagement inside and outside the home. However, more must be done to explore the factors affecting parental engagement with activities.