Women hit with bulk of chores in COVID times

COVID-19 confinement means more household chores and time with the kids. But despite both sexes being equally isolated, it looks like the lion's share of the domestic duties are being handed to women, according to a newly-published study in the journal Gender, Work & Organization.

With mass closures of schools and childcare facilities as a result of the pandemic, caregiving responsibilities have drastically expanded in households with parents who continue to work. As that has happened, mothers' actual working hours — among those still gainfully employed — have dropped drastically compared to those of fathers.

Researchers examined data gleaned from the U.S. Current Population Survey to compare the fluctuations and changes in working hours for mothers and fathers in heterosexual households. The data was gleaned from February to the end of April 2020, the period just before widespread U.S. outbreaks of the virus, and its first peak.

The numbers revealed that among parents of young children, mothers had reduced their working hours between four and five times more than fathers during the period studied — increasing the pre-existing gender gap in work hours by another 20 to 50 per cent.

“These findings indicate yet another negative consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the challenges it poses to women's work hours and employment,” the researchers write. “This is especially true for those with primary-schoolage or younger children in the home for whom caregiving and home-schooling demands are most intense.”

Researchers note that although the rise in telecommuting may have protected many mothers from “more extensive” job losses, mothers with children aged one to five reported significant work time reductions. This is despite the fact that the sample included couples where both parents telecommute and face similar working conditions.

“Our results indicate that mothers' employment is disproportionately affected relative to fathers',” researchers write.

“It is beyond the scope of this article to identify whether mothers' workhour reductions are a consequence of their assuming a larger share of the domestic work … employers' greater time demands on fathers than mothers, or whether in times of crisis families tend to revert to more traditional gender roles in the household division of labour. What is clear from robust government-collected data is that the pandemic is driving mothers to scale back employment,” they add.

While the study says longterm effects of the discrepancies between the sexes are as yet unknown, the authors suggest that employers can contribute toward turning the workforce into a more even playing field for both sexes.