Gender division of housework during the COVID-19 pandemic: Temporary shocks or durable change?

Abstract

BACKGROUNDFirst evidence shows that lockdown and confinement measures were associated with a more egalitarian gender division of housework in the United Kingdom. However, we know little about how the gender division of housework adjusted in different phases of the pandemic. OBJECTIVEWe ask: (1) How did the gender division of housework change with the first national lockdown in March 2020? (2) Did observed changes persist when the lockdown measures were lifted or did couples revert to the gender division of housework observed before lockdown? METHODSWe describe changes in the share of housework done by women before, during, and after the first lockdown using data from the Understanding Society COVID-19 study and employing fixed effects regression for couples with pre-school or school age children and couples without children living at home. RESULTSThe lockdown measures affected the gender division of housework with differential effects by the age of the youngest child in the household. After the initial shock, couples with younger children and couples with school-age children reverted to their prepandemic gender division of housework. However, couples without children living at home sustained a more equal share of housework.

For better or worse: Economic strain, furlough, and relationship quality during the Covid‐19 lockdown

“…Although some couples had more time on their hands, parents may have had to unexpectedly homeschool and care for children who were unable to attend school or childcare. The homeschooling burden disproportionately fell on mothers, as couples often reverted to traditional gender roles (Benzeval et al, 2020; Sánchez et al, 2021). In addition, women were more likely to reduce work hours, withdraw from the labor market or apply for furlough (Adams‐Prassl et al, 2020).…”

Mental Health before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Partnership and Parenthood Status in Growing Disparities between Types of Families

“…The increase in the mental health disadvantages of women during the lockdown may be linked to the clear gender inequalities in paid work, housework, and care work, all of which were strongly affected by the measures the government imposed to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The existing evidence on the consequences of the COVID-19 lockdown suggests that while men increased their overall contributions to housework and care work from low initial levels, the lockdown was not the great equalizer but, rather, reaffirmed or even magnified the existing gender inequalities within couples with children (Czymara, Langenkamp, and Cano 2021; Hank and Steinbach 2020; Kreyenfeld and Zinn 2021; Möhring et al 2020; Rodríguez Sánchez, Fasang, and Harkness 2021). Therefore, it is likely that after the onset of the pandemic, women’s unpaid workload further increased from already high levels because during the spring lockdown, families were spending more time at home than they were before the pandemic.…”

Gender inequality in childcare and parental mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany. Do gender role attitudes matter?

“…There are good reasons to assume that the mental health disadvantage of mothers increased over the course of the pandemic in light of the results emerging from data on an early phase of the pandemic. Research on the division of housework during the pandemic has already shown that even among couples who shared housework more equally during the early months of the pandemic, this increase in gender equality had vanished a few months later, particularly for couples with children (Rodríguez Sánchez, Fasang, & Harkness, 2021). This was also the case for couples who shared care work more equally during the pandemic.…”