Child and Pet Care‐Planning During COVID‐19: Considerations for the Evolving Family Unit

• Published date: 01 July 2021
• Author: Britni L. Adams,Jennifer W. Applebaum,Michelle N. Eliasson,Shelby E. McDonald,Barbara A. Zsembik
• Date: 01 July 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12542

B L. A, J W. A,  M N. EUniversity of

Florida

S E. MDVirginia Commonwealth University

B A. ZUniversity of Florida

Child and Pet Care-Planning During COVID-19:

Considerations for the Evolving Family Unit

Objective: Using a mixed-methods design, we

aimed to understand household dynamics and

choices in hypothetical planning for child and

pet care if an individual is faced with hospital-

ization for COVID-19.

Background: As the COVID-19 public health

crisis persists, children and pets are vulnerable

to caregiver hospitalization.

Methods: Bivariate associations from a

large-scale survey explore hypothetical options

for dependent care-planning. An open-ended

question regarding pet–child interactions is

coded applying a grounded theory framework.

Results: Caregiversexpect to rely on family and

friends to care for children, especially young

children, and pets if hospitalized. The presence

of pets in the home has been predominately pos-

itive for children during the pandemic, suggest-

ing benets of alternative care options that keep

children and pets together.

Conclusions: Relying on one’s social network

to care for dependents if caregivers become ill

from COVID-19 could place loved ones at risk

for contracting the virus, which could present

Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law Uni-

versity of Florida, 3353 Turlington Hall, PO Box 117330,

Gainesville, Florida, 32611 (adamsb@u.edu).

Key Words: care-planning for dependents, child care, com-

panion animals, COVID-19, family,pets.

obstacles to arranging care plans, especially

inclusive of pets and children.

Implications: The changing information

regarding COVID-19 warrants that families

establish concrete care plans for dependent

children and pets. The spread of COVID-19

to the most vulnerable, such as grandparents

and other family who may be expected to care

for dependents, could create additional public

health concerns.

Recent estimates suggest that 60% of U.S.

households have pets (Applebaum, Peek, &

Zsembik, 2020). Pet owners often consider pets

as part of their family (De Coninck et al., 2020;

Irvine & Cilia, 2017). Positive interactions and

relationships with pets may buffer the nega-

tive impacts of stress on well-being and assist

in emotional coping in adverse family situa-

tions (Applebaum & Zsembik, 2020; Hawkins

et al., 2019). In relation to the COVID-19

pandemic, if living with pets is benecial for

children as they experience multiple transitions

related to COVID-19, care-planning that allows

pets and children to reside together could reduce

stress and provide structure.

Despite potential benets of having a pet in

the home in relation to well-being (McConnell

et al., 2019), the presence of pets may cre-

ate barriers to accessing health care if alterna-

tive pet care is not available from immediate

Family Relations 70 (July 2021): 705–716705

DOI:10.1111/fare.12542