"Women are working more, men are understanding their value as caregivers, women are primary breadwinners — I mean, we could go on and on and on. Things are different. So we can't keep operating like everything is the same, and that's what many of us have done. And I think it's up to us to change the conversation." Michelle Obama

Teleworking has become the norm for millions of people in the EU and beyond since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic. Eurofound (2020) estimates that nearly 40% of the people currently working in the EU began to work remotely due to the pandemic. Evidence within the European Commission’s study on Telework in the EU before and after the covid-19 suggests that, in normal times, telework can substantially enhance people’s productivity and allow a better work-life balance.

Have parents achieved a better work-life balance through the pandemic?

We are not living in normal times, and other elements – particularly school closures - can negatively influence productivity. According to UNESCO’s global monitoring of school closures caused by covid-19, about 84% of learners were affected, and around 160 country-wide closures were reported in March and April. Today, in December 2020, there are still about 13% of learners currently studying out of school as a result of the pandemic. The covid-19 crisis and school closures have placed an extra burden on parents and especially on women. 

Many parents have felt utterly overwhelmed during the lockdown as a result of juggling two jobs at once: home-schooling and work. Parents tend to feel stressed and guilty when hardly managing to balance their children’s education needs with their job commitments. The potential damage to their relationship with their children caused by struggles over homework is also a major challenge.

Is the time spent on childcare equally distributed between mothers and fathers?

New global data from UN Women suggests that the covid-19 pandemic could erase 25 years of increasing gender equality. This is because the pandemic and school closures have led to a significant increase in the burden of domestic and home-schooling tasks falling mainly on women rather than men. The figures speak for themselves. Before the pandemic, for every one hour of unpaid care work delivered by men, three hours were delivered by women. During the pandemic, that figure has at least doubled with women delivering at least six hours for every one hour of unpaid care work undertaken by men. Evidence shows that this experience is having a significant impact on women’s mental health. 

Do women have to put their careers on hold to home-school? 

The conflicting work and home-schooling demands caused by the pandemic can significantly constrain women’s careers and economic opportunities. Mothers are faced with an extra burden of care-related tasks which can lead to either reductions in their working time and salary or to the decision to stay out of the labour market, especially if the work cannot be performed remotely. Unless employers and governments act proactively, and fathers engage equally in domestic tasks and childcare, there will be a long-lasting negative impact on female labour participation.

While the covid-19 virus was portrayed in the early narrative as the ‘big equaliser’ - as it is capable of infecting anyone - the social impact has affected women disproportionately. The spread of the virus has widened the unpaid labour gap between mothers and fathers as mothers spend a greater amount of time on their children’s education in addition to multiple care-related responsibilities. As care work is often unpaid and undervalued, it has always been  taken for granted compared to paid work despite its multi-level societal importance.

What can governments and employers do to narrow the unpaid labour gap between mothers and fathers?

The pandemic and school closures are exacerbating pre-existing unpaid labour gaps, with women tending to experience a heavier burden on their time now. Keeping childcare centres and schools open is a short-term solution, but it will not fully address the fundamental gender inequalities created by unpaid care work. The United Nations is calling o employers and governments to acknowledge that unpaid care work exists and formulate policies that are not gender-blind - such as extra family leave, or extra paid leave for both fathers and mothers.

Some employers have started adopting flexible work arrangements for working mothers and fathers so they can both share the growing childcare responsibilities, as well as for other members of households in vulnerable situations such as single parents, widows and extended households. This action needs to be stepped up, for as former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan observed, gender equality is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.

Authors: Nicole Vasiliou, David Crosier