scholarly journals Home, sweet home? The impact of working from home on the division of unpaid work during the COVID-19 lockdown

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Derndorfer ◽  
Franziska Disslbacher ◽  
Vanessa Lechinger ◽  
Katharina Mär ◽  
Eva Six
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Female Partner ◽  
Working From Home ◽  
Division Of Housework ◽  
Market Production ◽  
Small Set ◽  
The Impact

A lockdown implies a shift from the public to the private sphere, and from market to non-market production, thereby increasing the volume of unpaid work. Already before the pandemic, unpaid work was disproportionately borne by women. This paper studies the effect of working from home for pay (WFH), due to a lockdown, on the change in the division of housework and childcare within couple households. While previous studies on the effect of WFH on the reconciliation of work and family life and the division of labour within the household suffered from selection bias, we are able to identify this effect by drawing upon the shock of the first COVID-19 lockdown in Austria. The corresponding legal measures left little choice over WFH. In any case, WFH is exogenous, conditional on a small set of individual and household characteristics we control for. We employ data from a survey on the gendered aspects of the lockdown. The dataset includes detailed information on time use during the lockdown and on the quality and experience of WFH. Uniquely, this survey data also includes information on the division, and not only magnitude, of unpaid work within households. Austria is an interesting case in this respect as it is characterized by very conservative gender norms. The results reveal that the probability of men taking on a larger share of housework increases if men are WFH alone or together with their female partner. By contrast, the involvement of men in childcare increased only in the event that the female partner was not able to WFH. Overall, the burden of childcare, and particularly homeschooling, was disproportionately borne by women.

scholarly journals Home, sweet home? The impact of working from home on the division of unpaid work during the COVID-19 lockdown

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259580
Author(s):  
Judith Derndorfer ◽  
Franziska Disslbacher ◽  
Vanessa Lechinger ◽  
Katharina Mader ◽  
Eva Six
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Female Partner ◽  
Working From Home ◽  
Division Of Housework ◽  
Market Production ◽  
Small Set ◽  
The Impact

A lockdown implies a shift from the public to the private sphere, and from market to non-market production, thereby increasing the volume of unpaid work. Already before the pandemic, unpaid work was disproportionately borne by women. This paper studies the effect of working from home for pay (WFH), due to a lockdown, on the change in the division of housework and childcare within couple households. While previous studies on the effect of WFH on the reconciliation of work and family life and the division of labour within the household suffered from selection bias, we are able to identify this effect by drawing upon the shock of the first COVID-19 lockdown in Austria. The corresponding legal measures left little choice over WFH. In any case, WFH is exogenous, conditional on a small set of individual and household characteristics we control for. We employ data from a survey on the gendered aspects of the lockdown. The dataset includes detailed information on time use during the lockdown and on the quality and experience of WFH. Uniquely, this survey data also includes information on the division, and not only magnitude, of unpaid work within households. Austria is an interesting case in this respect as it is characterized by very conservative gender norms. The results reveal that the probability of men taking on a larger share of housework increases if men are WFH alone or together with their female partner. By contrast, the involvement of men in childcare increased only in the event that the female partner was not able to WFH. Overall, the burden of childcare, and particularly homeschooling, was disproportionately borne by women.

scholarly journals Introduction to the Special Issue “Parental work and family/child well-being”

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-191
Author(s):  
Matthias Pollmann-Schult ◽  
Jianghong Li
Keyword(s):  
Significant Proportion ◽  
New Economy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Temporary Employment ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Nonstandard Employment ◽  
Parental Work ◽  
The Impact

The "new economy" is characterized by increasing levels of nonstandard employment. A significant proportion of employees work very long hours, work with high intensity, or have long commutes to work. Also, many workers struggle to secure adequate, stable employment or good quality jobs, and work evening and night shifts or work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. This special issue examines the consequences of the new economy for the wellbeing of family and children. The studies included in this special issue address the impact of parents’ nonstandard work schedules (shift work), long work hours, temporary employment, and long commutes to work on parental and child health and wellbeing, relationship satisfaction, work-family balance, and the division of labour.

scholarly journals Gendered Effects of Home-Based Work on Parents’ Capability to Balance Work with Non-work: Two Countries with Different Models of Division of Labour Compared

2018 ◽  
Vol 151 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Kurowska
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Double Burden ◽  
Latent Construct ◽  
Home Based ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis paper explores gendered impact of home-based work (HBW) on the capability to balance work with non-work in double-earner families with dependent children in two countries with distinct models of division of labour: Poland and Sweden. At first, I critically engage with the WLB conceptualization in HBW studies and try to address identified gaps. Driving from the theoretical concept of ‘burden of responsibilities’ and setting it in the capability approach, I propose to operationalize the capability to balance work with non-work as a latent construct, observed through two indicators of the burden of unpaid work responsibilities related to one’s engagement in paid work. To simultaneously measure this capability as a latent construct and the impact of HBW on this capability, I estimate a simple structural equation model for each country. The results show that men in both countries have higher capabilities to balance work with non-work than women, but the difference between genders is smaller in Sweden. I also find that HBW is related to lower capability to balance work with non-work for mothers in both countries and for fathers in Sweden only. The results of this study show that in a relatively gender equal society (Sweden) the negative impact of home based work on the capability to balance work with non-work affects both genders. On the contrary—in a more traditional society (Poland), men are able to ‘escape’ the trap of double burden of paid and unpaid work when working from home while women do not.

scholarly journals Gendering COVID-19: Impact of the Pandemic on Women's Burden of Unpaid Work in India

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyanshi Chauhan
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
Gendered Roles ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already existing gender inequalities with substantial implications on women. With the closure of offices and educational institutions, and the emerging norm of work from home and online education, along with the lack of services of domestic worker, the need to perform unpaid chores in the household has increased. Simultaneously, the requirements of social distancing and sanitization have created new unpaid chores. Owing to the sexual division of labour, and gendered roles and social norms of performing domestic and care work, the burden of unpaid work falls disproportionately on women. In this context, the objective of the paper is to study the impact of COVID-19 on time spent on unpaid work and the underlying gender differences in the urban centres in India. Specifically, the paper will do a comparative analysis of the gender differences in time spent on unpaid work before and during the lockdown, and analyse the reasons for the same.

Parenthood and employment: the impact of policies and culture on gender inequality in Switzerland

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruedi Epple ◽  
Martin Gasser ◽  
Sarah Kersten ◽  
Michael Nollert ◽  
Sebastian Schief
Keyword(s):  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of cantonal social policies and cultural settings (in Switzerland) on women’s and men’s employment behaviour. Special consideration is given to the transition to parenthood. Design/methodology/approach – Based on data from the Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS) this paper conducts multilevel analyses to test individual and cantonal effects on the probability of employment and on working hours. To analyse the effect of parenthood, models for women and men with children under three are contrasted with models for women and men without children or with older children. Findings – The paper documents the persistence of gender inequality in employment linked to parenthood. How the reconciliation of work and family life can be realised for women and men strongly depends on a set of policies and cultural conditions. Moreover, individual characteristics such as education or marriage are important predictors. Research limitations/implications – A shortcoming of this study is the focus on the individual employment use and not on household-level division of labour. This disadvantage is due to the design of the SLFS, which is (at present) the only available survey to allow regionalisation at the cantonal level. However, the paper adds important results to the debate about gender inequality and parenthood in Switzerland as previous research has focused only little on cantonal diversity. Originality/value – The paper connects to previous cantonal comparative studies of female employment but extends their analyses in three important ways. By analysing cantonal differences in policies and culture this paper takes the diversity of framework conditions in Switzerland into account. Furthermore it simultaneously analyses male and female employment behaviour to get a better understanding of gender inequality and parenthood.

scholarly journals Home, Sweet Home? The Impact of Working from Home on the Division of Unpaid Work during the COVID-19 Lockdown

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Judith ◽  
Franziska Disslbacher ◽  
Vanessa Lechinger ◽  
Katharina Mader ◽  
Eva Six
Keyword(s):  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Working From Home ◽  
The Impact

A Study on the Impact of Family-friendly Certification on Financial Performance of SMEs: Focusing on the Manufacturing Industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-12
Author(s):  
Ok-Hee Park ◽  
Kwan-sik Na ◽  
Seok-Kee Lee
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Family Friendly ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

Background/Objectives: The purpose of the paper is to examine how family-friendly certificates introduced to pursue the compatibility of work and family life affect the financial performance of small and medium-sized manufacturers, and to provide useful information to companies considering the introduction of this system in the future.

Psychosocial Risks of Chronic Health Conditions in Childhood and Adolescence

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 876-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Chronic Health Conditions ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Medical Attention ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Chronic Health ◽  
Persistent Symptoms ◽  
The Impact

Chronic health conditions affect many children and adolescents. These conditions are illnesses or impairments that are expected to last for an extended period of time and require medical attention and care that is above and beyond what would normally be expected for a child or adolescent of the same age, extensive hospitalization, or in-home health services.1 These conditions include, among others, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, spina bifida, hemophilia, seizure disorders, neuromuscular disease, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and congenital heart diseases. Although each specific condition may be relatively or extremely rare, when they are considered together, many children and adolescents are affected. Health conditions may be characterized by their duration and their severity. Although these terms are often linked, they refer to different aspects of a health condition. A chronic condition is generally one that has lasted or is expected to last more than a defined period of time, usually 3 months or longer. Conditions vary widely in their onset, course, and duration.2 Severity refers to the impact a condition has on a child's physical, intellectual, psychological, or social functioning.3 This impact may occur as a result of persistent symptoms, required treatments, limitations of activity or mobility, or interference with school, recreation, work, and family activities. Current estimates are that between 10 and 20 million American children and adolescents have some type of chronic health condition or impairment. Most of these conditions are relatively mild and interfere little with the children's ability to participate in usual childhood activities.4 However.

A Qualitative Exploration of Role Salience among Malaysian Professional and Managerial Dual-Career Couples

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 741-752
Author(s):  
Rafiduraida Abdul Rahman Et.al
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
Work Characteristics ◽  
Dual Career ◽  
Role Salience ◽  
Dual Career Couples ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Work And Family Roles ◽  
The Impact

This paper explores work and family roles salience in the context of dual-career couples in Malaysia. Semi-structured qualitative interviews has been conducted on 18 couples in professional and managerial position. The data were transcribed and analyzed using template analysis. The findings revealed that several factors namely culture, religious values, gender, work characteristics and personal preferences influence the couples’ role salience. Women tend to face more struggles to maintain the salience of both roles despite the fact that couples regard both roles to be central to their lives. Factors such as culture and religious values influence the couples’ role salience making them holding to traditional gender attitude and reduce the impact of family to work. Some couples are more affected with spouse work condition or personal preferencesleading them to practice less traditional roles in their family arrangements.Conflicting views within couples also exist, which influence their challenges and satisfaction. This study adds to the work and family research using couple-level analysis in a non-Western context. The qualitative data gained has also enabled the study to extend the understanding on how the dynamic of the interaction between culture, religion, gender, work characteristics and personal preferences come into play to shape couples’ role salience and consequently their work-family experiences and perceptions.

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