Working from Home and the Division of Childcare and Housework among Dual-Earner Parents during the Pandemic in the UK
This paper examines whether the expansion of working from home led to a more equal division of domestic work during the pandemic. We use unique data of dual-earner heterosexual couples gathered during the first lockdown in the UK when workers were required to work from home by law. Results reveal th...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-10-01
|
| Series: | Merits |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8104/2/4/19 |
| _version_ | 1797623865457770496 |
|---|---|
| author | Heejung Chung Hyojin Seo Holly Birkett Sarah Forbes |
| author_facet | Heejung Chung Hyojin Seo Holly Birkett Sarah Forbes |
| author_sort | Heejung Chung |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper examines whether the expansion of working from home led to a more equal division of domestic work during the pandemic. We use unique data of dual-earner heterosexual couples gathered during the first lockdown in the UK when workers were required to work from home by law. Results reveal that mothers were likely to be carrying out a larger share of domestic work both before and during the lockdown. When fathers worked from home, compared to those going into work, a more equitable division was found for cleaning and routine childcare. Furthermore, homeworking fathers were up to 3.5 times more likely to report that they increased the time they spent on childcare during the lockdown compared to before. However, we also found evidence of homeworking mothers having increased their time spent on domestic work, and doing a larger share of routine childcare, compared to mothers going into work. Overall, the study shows that when working from home is normalised through law and practice, it may better enable men to engage more in domestic work, which can in turn better support women’s labour market participation. However, without significant changes to our work cultures and gender norms, homeworking still has the potential to enable or maintain a traditional division of labour, further exacerbating gender inequality patterns both at home and in the labour market. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:34:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ed55d64f97b54e93ab8407101c7b582c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-8104 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:34:53Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Merits |
| spelling | doaj.art-ed55d64f97b54e93ab8407101c7b582c2023-11-16T17:24:40ZengMDPI AGMerits2673-81042022-10-012427029210.3390/merits2040019Working from Home and the Division of Childcare and Housework among Dual-Earner Parents during the Pandemic in the UKHeejung Chung0Hyojin Seo1Holly Birkett2Sarah Forbes3School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, Division of Law, Society, and Social Justice, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NF, UKCentre for Sociological Research, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, BelgiumDepartment of Management, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UKSchool for Business and Society, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UKThis paper examines whether the expansion of working from home led to a more equal division of domestic work during the pandemic. We use unique data of dual-earner heterosexual couples gathered during the first lockdown in the UK when workers were required to work from home by law. Results reveal that mothers were likely to be carrying out a larger share of domestic work both before and during the lockdown. When fathers worked from home, compared to those going into work, a more equitable division was found for cleaning and routine childcare. Furthermore, homeworking fathers were up to 3.5 times more likely to report that they increased the time they spent on childcare during the lockdown compared to before. However, we also found evidence of homeworking mothers having increased their time spent on domestic work, and doing a larger share of routine childcare, compared to mothers going into work. Overall, the study shows that when working from home is normalised through law and practice, it may better enable men to engage more in domestic work, which can in turn better support women’s labour market participation. However, without significant changes to our work cultures and gender norms, homeworking still has the potential to enable or maintain a traditional division of labour, further exacerbating gender inequality patterns both at home and in the labour market.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8104/2/4/19COVID-19 pandemicworking from homedivision of houseworkchildcaregender inequality |
| spellingShingle | Heejung Chung Hyojin Seo Holly Birkett Sarah Forbes Working from Home and the Division of Childcare and Housework among Dual-Earner Parents during the Pandemic in the UK Merits COVID-19 pandemic working from home division of housework childcare gender inequality |
| title | Working from Home and the Division of Childcare and Housework among Dual-Earner Parents during the Pandemic in the UK |
| title_full | Working from Home and the Division of Childcare and Housework among Dual-Earner Parents during the Pandemic in the UK |
| title_fullStr | Working from Home and the Division of Childcare and Housework among Dual-Earner Parents during the Pandemic in the UK |
| title_full_unstemmed | Working from Home and the Division of Childcare and Housework among Dual-Earner Parents during the Pandemic in the UK |
| title_short | Working from Home and the Division of Childcare and Housework among Dual-Earner Parents during the Pandemic in the UK |
| title_sort | working from home and the division of childcare and housework among dual earner parents during the pandemic in the uk |
| topic | COVID-19 pandemic working from home division of housework childcare gender inequality |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8104/2/4/19 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT heejungchung workingfromhomeandthedivisionofchildcareandhouseworkamongdualearnerparentsduringthepandemicintheuk AT hyojinseo workingfromhomeandthedivisionofchildcareandhouseworkamongdualearnerparentsduringthepandemicintheuk AT hollybirkett workingfromhomeandthedivisionofchildcareandhouseworkamongdualearnerparentsduringthepandemicintheuk AT sarahforbes workingfromhomeandthedivisionofchildcareandhouseworkamongdualearnerparentsduringthepandemicintheuk |