Households in Canada and Australia have exhibited similar trends in the gendered allocation of additional child care responsibilities resulting from policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we employ survey data to analyze the extent to which policy interventions related to COVID-19 have exacerbated gender disparities in child care obligations. We find that existing asymmetrical distributions of child care obligations in Canada and Australia have been amplified during the pandemic, resulting in a disproportionate burden on women. We also find that, throughout the pandemic, women in households with children report poorer mental health than men do.
La maladie du coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) a poussé les organismes de santé publique et autres respon sables gouvernementaux à apporter des changements rapides, importants et parfois contradictoires aux politiques, en réaction à la nouvelle information. Les auteurs étudient les répercussions de ces change ments sur l'adhésion du public à ces décisions en se penchant sur le cas de l'évolution des directives quant à l'usage du masque par les personnes asymptomatiques. Les recommandations officielles relatives à l'usage de masques au Canada étant passées de la dissuasion à la contrainte, les auteurs étudient les constats tirés d'un sondage d'opinion publique en cours visant à analyser les fluctuations actuelles des taux d'adoption du port du masque et des niveaux de confiance du public dans les institutions gouvernementales. Les au teurs constatent que les Canadiens affichent des niveaux élevés d'adhésion aux politiques changeantes sur l'usage du masque et que la confiance dans les autorités de la santé publique demeure constante, malgré ces changements. Mots clés : changement de politiques, confiance dans les institutions, COVID-19, masques, opinion pub lique Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in rapid, substantial, and at times contradictory policy changes as public health agencies and government officials react to new information. We examine the implications of such changes for public compliance by drawing on the case of revised guidance on mask usage by asymptomatic individuals. As official recommendations on the use of masks in Canada shift from discouraged to mandatory, we draw on findings from an ongoing public opinion study to explore contem poraneous changes in rates of mask adoption and levels of public trust in government institutions. We find that Canadians exhibit high levels of compliance with changing policies on mask usage and that trust in public health officials remains consistent despite policy change.
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