More than 3 in 5 parents say remote learning would negatively impact finances: survey

According to a new report from Bankrate, more than 3 in 5 parents say that remote learning as a result of the coronavirus would negatively impact their finances. Yahoo Finance's Reggie Wade joins The First Trade with Alexis Christoforous and Brian Sozzi to discuss.

Video Transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: The national debate continues over whether or not schools should open in the fall, but New Jersey is already making a pretty bold move. In a major reversal, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy says the state's public schools can go all remote but only if they can prove they can't open with in-person safely, and that could cause all sorts of challenges for parents.

Let's talk about this now with Yahoo Finance's Reggie Wade. Reggie, so good to see you. It's been a while since we've had you on the show, my friend.

REGGIE WADE: It's great to see you, Alexis.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Let's break down-- and there were many of them, but let's break down some of the challenges parents face if kids have to go all remote this fall.

REGGIE WADE: Yes, and there are many. Bankrate yesterday came out with a new survey that showed that more than 3 in 5 parents or 61% say that remote learning would negatively impact their finances, and 42% believe that COVID-related remote learning would be detrimental to their children's education. One of the extra spending that parents think that they will face would be for meals, technology, and also tutoring to supplement the children not being in the classroom.

BRIAN SOZZI: Reggie, did they break this up by country?

REGGIE WADE: No, this was only in the US. They actually break it down by region, and that's where I think you find some of the more fascinating elements of this. Northeast parents are the most likely to say they'll be negatively impacted by online learning at 61% versus 61% in the West and 59% in the Midwest and the South.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: What about childcare? You know, just because you're home, working from home, and your kids are doing school work from home, you still might actually need help because you can't be with the kids all the time, especially if you have really little ones. You have to deal with your job.

REGGIE WADE: Exactly. And we all know that the childcare costs are rising. And I spoke to the lead analyst on this, and he compared it to having a second mortgage for some people, especially people that live in expensive cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston. So parents are really struggling right now, and if social-distanced learning continues into the fall and into the rest of the school year, they really don't know what they're going to do financially.

BRIAN SOZZI: Reggie, you have extensive experience in the education space. Can learning from home be pulled off successfully, or you have to have-- or you have to back in the class?

REGGIE WADE: You know what? It depends. I think distance learning works well for older kids, kids that are in high school and college because at that point it's the content that matters. But for the little ones, especially elementary school, school is as much social as it is educational. You're learning to be with your peers, and you're learning how to conduct yourselves in public so when the kids go off into the workforce, they know how to handle themselves in a situation where mommy and daddy's not around.

So that's really at the core of it. And if these kids are missing that, they can really impact their social lives and their social upbringing.

BRIAN SOZZI: All right, we'll leave it there. Reggie Wade, always good to talk to you.

REGGIE WADE: Thank you, Brian. Thank you, Alexis.