COVID-19 Pandemic in Ireland and the Gendered Division of Care Work: The Impact of the Pandemic on Childcare Policy

Abstract

This article addresses the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the policy domains of care, with a particular focus on childcare. By using historical institutionalism as a conceptual framework, and Ireland as a case study, the article examines the extent to which the pandemic constituted a “critical juncture” leading to change in childcare policy in the country. The study is based on data collected in Ireland as part of the RESISTIRÉ project (Responding to outbreaks through co-creative inclusive equality strategies and collaboration), which investigates the impact of COVID-19 on equality in thirty-one countries, specifically through a gender+ approach that focuses on analyzing the impact of policy responses to COVID-19 on existing inequalities. The analysis carried out in this article reveals that changes in childcare policy were more adaptive than transformative, and that the underlying gender logic of the Irish welfare state regime remained unchanged.