How parental stress and long work weeks shape children’s reading outcomes

By Tarun Sai LomteReviewed by Susha Cheriyedath, M.Sc.Nov 12 2025

New research reveals how long work hours and high stress drain parents’ capacity to help with homework, widening gaps in children’s reading achievement and exposing a hidden cost of modern family life.

When work and worry collide: the mixed methods exploration of the impact of family work schedules and parental stress on children’s reading comprehension. Image Credit: Nuva Frames / Shutterstock

A recent study published in the journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications investigated the impact of family work schedules and parental stress on children’s reading comprehension.

Work-Family Conflict and Academic Risk

The increasing demands of work environments have created challenges for families worldwide, especially in balancing professional and familial duties. According to the work-family conflict theory, prolonged work hours and non-standard work schedules decrease the parental resources of energy and time that parents can devote to family duties, potentially impacting the academic outcomes of children.

China’s Evolving Labor Demands

Rapid economic growth in China has intensified work demands, with irregular shifts and long hours becoming the norm, making it challenging to maintain work-family balance. As such, there are concerns about diminished parental engagement in children’s education, which may negatively impact their academic performance.

Study Design and Participant Criteria

The present study investigated the impact of family work schedules, parental stress, and parental homework assistance on children’s reading comprehension in China. Children aged 8–11 studying in grades 3–5 were recruited from 10 elementary schools in two Chinese provinces.

Children with learning disabilities and those receiving specialized educational services were excluded from the study.

Measurement of Workload, Stress, and Homework Support

The Family Work Schedule Questionnaire was developed and administered to collect data on parents’ average weekly work hours across all businesses or jobs.

Additionally, a parental homework help questionnaire was developed and administered to investigate the nature and frequency of parental involvement in their children’s homework.

The Parental Stress Scale was administered to evaluate the negative and positive aspects of the parenting experience.

Reading Assessment and Interview Methods

The Chinese reading comprehension test was administered to assess the reading comprehension skills of children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a select subsample of 13 children and 15 parents to gain insights into their perceptions and experiences related to the study’s core themes.

Pearson correlations were estimated to assess bivariate associations between family work schedules, parental stress, children’s reading comprehension, and parental homework help.

Mediation and Moderation Analytical Approach

A series of analyses was conducted to explore the mechanisms linking family work schedules to reading comprehension.

First, whether parental homework assistance mediates the relationship between family work schedules and children’s reading comprehension was examined. 

Subsequently, whether parental stress moderates this relationship was assessed.

Finally, these mediation and moderation components were integrated to test for moderated mediation. 

The study controlled for variables such as child age, gender, and family socioeconomic status to ensure the results were robust.

Participant Characteristics and Workload Patterns

The study recruited 627 students, comprising 326 boys and 301 girls, with an average age of 9.4 years. Most participants were urban students (60%).

Primary caregivers, predominantly mothers, worked for an average of 45.3 hours per week, whereas secondary caregivers, mostly fathers, worked for an average of 38.6 hours per week.

Family work schedules, estimated as the sum of these averages, were 83.9 hours per week.

Patterns of Homework Help and Stress Levels

Parental homework help was moderate, with 17.3% of children receiving no or minimal assistance and 22.5% receiving frequent help. Parental stress levels were also moderate overall, with 24.3% reporting low levels of stress and 27.1% having high levels.

Children’s reading comprehension skills were heterogeneous; 22.7 percent of children had challenges with reading comprehension, while 19.8 percent had high proficiency.

Associations Between Workload, Stress, and Reading Skills

There was an association between increased family work schedules and less frequent parental homework help. More frequent homework assistance was associated with improved reading comprehension, and parental stress was negatively associated with both homework assistance and reading comprehension.

Notably, parental stress significantly moderated the indirect effects of family work schedules on children’s reading comprehension through parental homework assistance, with conditional indirect effects of beta equals -0.05 (low stress), beta equals -0.12 (average stress), and beta equals -0.18 (high stress).

Stress-Linked Reductions in Homework Support

That is, higher parental stress amplified the negative (indirect) effects of demanding family work schedules on children’s reading comprehension through decreased homework assistance.

According to the study's theoretical framework, this amplification occurs because high stress more rapidly depletes the finite cognitive and emotional resources, such as patience and attention, that are essential for providing practical, high-quality homework support. However, this mechanism is theoretical and not directly tested in the cross-sectional design.

Interviews revealed five interrelated themes, highlighting the impacts of parental stress, challenges to work-family balance, the role of parental involvement in children’s reading, resourceful family strategies, and the need for family-school partnerships.

Work-Family Challenges and Emotional Strain

Parents consistently emphasized the balancing act between their familial and professional lives, describing challenges arising from inflexible work schedules, limited childcare options, and lengthy commutes.

Financial anxiety was also significant, with parents expressing worries over rising living costs and job security. Notably, homework was identified as a considerable challenge and a source of conflict and stress within families.

Children’s Homework Burden and Family Expectations

Children frequently described feeling overwhelmed by the volume of homework, often expressing feelings of helplessness and frustration. Parents also struggled with homework, grappling to find energy and time for adequate support.

Furthermore, parents genuinely desired increased collaboration with schools and expressed that teachers do not fully understand the realities and challenges faced by working families.

Limitations of Cross-Sectional Data

The author also acknowledged several important limitations. Because the study was cross-sectional (a snapshot in time), it cannot definitively establish cause-and-effect relationships.

Furthermore, its reliance on self-report measures for stress and homework help could introduce potential biases. The findings, while significant, may also not be generalizable to all families across China.

Integrated Effects of Workload and Stress

Taken together, family work schedules were negatively associated with children’s reading comprehension, which was partially mediated by reduced homework help.

Notably, parental stress significantly moderated this entire dynamic, such that higher stress levels amplified the negative impact of demanding work schedules on parental involvement in homework help, with the magnitude of this moderated mediation reflected in the beta values reported above.

Policy Needs to Support Working Families

Interviews provided nuanced insights into lived experiences, highlighting parents’ constant struggle to maintain a work-family balance and the pervasive impact of stress.

Overall, the results suggest that parental stress acts as a key moderator of homework help efficacy, underscoring the need for support for working families to enhance their children's academic success.

The study's practical implications are far-reaching, suggesting a need for multi-level interventions. 

For employers, this includes implementing family-friendly policies, such as flexible work schedules and telecommuting, to reduce work-family conflict.

For schools, the author suggests fostering stronger school-family partnerships through improved communication and offering resources such as parent training on effective homework strategies. 

Finally, the paper calls for broader community and policy-level support, such as workplace wellness programs and accessible mental health services, to target and reduce parental stress directly.