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  3. 2022
  4. Preliminary Program
  5. Families in the Pandemic: Work, Household Responsibilities and Care
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Families in the Pandemic: Work, Household Responsibilities and Care

Paper Session

Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022 12:15 PM - 2:15 PM (EST)

Hosted By: Association for the Study of Generosity in Economics & International Association for Feminist Economics
  • Chair: Marcella Corsi, Sapienza University-Rome

Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Gender Gaps in Paid and Unpaid Work Time: Findings from a Field Survey in Turkey

Ipek Ilkkaracan
,
Istanbul Technical University
Emel Memis
,
Ankara University

Abstract

This paper makes use of a unique survey conducted under Covid-19 pandemic lockdown conditions in Turkey including a series of questions on paid and unpaid work. The findings show that the pandemic has aggravated the gender disparities through overworked females and underworked males. While men’s participation in unpaid work increased substantially, particularly for men who switched to working from home and decreased their employment hours, the increase for women is relatively more further widening the gender gap in unpaid work. There is a narrowing down of the gender gap in paid work due to relatively less employment disruption for women and a relatively higher decrease in men’s paid work. The combination of these two factors results in an increase in the total workload of employed women to levels that are hard to sustain a decent work-life balance. One in every two employed women reports difficulty in coping with their workload under pandemic conditions versus one in every four men. The differences of unpaid work amongst women by education and employment status narrowed down reflecting how purchasing power became somewhat irrelevant under the pandemic measures, which constrained access to market substitutes for household production. These findings unveil simultaneously the fragility of the work-life balance conditions faced by employed women and a window of opportunity created by men’s increased participation in unpaid work. Policy interventions such as flexible employment for men, regulated (lower) full-time workplace hours and improved access to care services are key to gender equality and improving household resilience in dealing with shocks.

Fathers Matter: Intra-Household Responsibilities and Children’s Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Italy

Lucia Mangiavacchi
,
University of Perugia
Luca Piccoli
,
University of Trento
Luca Pieroni
,
University of Perugia

Abstract

The lockdown declared during the Spring 2020 because of the COVID-19 outbreak caused a reallocation of market and household work. At the same time school closures in many countries impacted on children’s lives and their learning process. In Italy, schools and nurseries have been closed for three months and the incidence and quality of distant learning activities has been heterogeneous over education levels and among schools. Using survey data on children’s wellbeing, and parents’ market and household work, we estimate how the reallocation of intrahousehold responsibilities during the lock-down has affected children’s use of time, their emotional status, and their home learning. We find that changes in the parental division of household tasks and childcare are mostly due to the labor market restrictions imposed during the lockdown and that this reallocation increases fathers’ involvement in childcare and homeschooling.
This positive variation in fathers’ involvement is accompanied by an increase in children’s emotional wellbeing while the quality of children’s home learning is mostly determined by distant learning activities proposed by their teachers.

COVID-19 and Changes in the Gendered Division of Unpaid Labor, Job Productivity, and Job Satisfaction

Jennifer Cohen
,
Miami University
Kristina Durante
,
Rutgers University
Yana van der Meulen Rodgers
,
Rutgers University
Lisa Kaplowitz
,
Rutgers University
Elain Zundl
,
Rutgers University

Abstract

The stay-at-home orders associated with COVID-19 left many employees teleworking and increased the amount of unpaid care work within the home. Such disruptions have the potential to upend the gendered distribution of unpaid labor and radically change how people perform their paid jobs, particularly for dual-career households. This study investigates how the lockdown affected the gendered distribution of unpaid labor, job productivity, and job satisfaction. We conducted a real-time survey in May 2020 that yielded a sample of 920 respondents in cohabiting, opposite-sex partnerships in the U.S. Results showed that both men and women experienced an increase in the amount of unpaid work within the home during the pandemic relative to before, with women performing more. However, men’s increase in labor related to the care of elderly and disabled family members exceeded that of women. Regression results showed that as men took on more household labor, women reported greater odds of being more productive in and satisfied with their paid jobs. Men’s job productivity and satisfaction were unaffected by women’s increased contributions to household labor during the pandemic. These results have implications for perceptions of inequalities within organizations that may shift social norms related to the ideal worker.

Paid and Unpaid Work during COVID-19. A Study on the Effects of Lockdown Measures in Italy

Marcella Corsi
,
Sapienza University-Rome
Erica Aloe
,
Sapienza University-Rome
Alessandra De Rose
,
Sapienza University-Rome
Marina Zannella
,
Sapienza University-Rome

Abstract

This paper relies on data from a web-survey carried out in Italy in the period from May to June 2020 to explore how the lockdown measures adopted in contrast to the diffusion of COVID-19 affected women’s use of time for paid and unpaid work as well as the division of care work within the household. The survey has covered more than 1,000 participants and has collected information on the time spent working and caring for the family before, during and after the lockdown. In the questionnaire, respondents were also asked to report their feelings associated to unpaid work activities during the lockdown period. The focus on Italy is of considerable interest for two main reasons. First, among Western countries, Italy stands out as having the widest gender gap in household labor. Second, Italy has been the first country after China to undergo restrictive measures due to the pandemic.

Discussant(s)
Lucia Mangiavacchi
,
University of Perugia
Jennifer Cohen
,
Miami University
Ipek Ilkkaracan
,
Istanbul Technical University
Erica Aloe
,
Sapienza University-Rome
JEL Classifications
  • D1 - Household Behavior and Family Economics
  • D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making