Since mid-March, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered our everyday life. It has led to thousands dead, ravaged the economy, and caused havoc on everyday work, school, and home life. With school and daycare closures, parents became the primary caretakers and educators while still juggling their full-time jobs. Parents, particularly mothers, are simultaneously juggling work, home, schooling the kids, meal prepping, and numerous other tasks during these unprecedented times.

A few research articles have been published studying the role of married couples and their roles in caring for their children and how the pandemic has influenced these patterns. One study, in particular, looked at gender gaps in work hours during COVID-19 among heterosexual couples where both parents worked from home and had children under the age of 13. It found that mothers “have reduced their work hours four to five times more than fathers”. They used the cohort of which they had data from prior to the pandemic to that way they could easily determine how certain parameters changed after the pandemic. The authors from this study speculated that a part of the disparity in responsibilities between the parents is that “when a child needs help they go to the mommy first”.

Another study looked at the Census Household Pulse survey between April 23rd - May 5th found that 22% of respondents reported being out of work related to COVID-19 with more than 16% of them being women compared to 5% being men. The women reported that they could no longer work because they had to care for their children who were not going to daycare and/or school. It is estimated that over 80% of the adults in the US who were no longer working because they had to care for their children were women.

Overall, the mother’s work time reduced significantly more than fathers. This holds true more for those with children of primary school age or younger. Their needs and demands for caregiving and homeschooling increased greatly during this pandemic. Even though mothers were relied on more often than fathers even prior to the pandemic, this shift in place of work and burden of homeschooling and caretaking has further increased the responsibilities that women have.

With summer breaks ending and new school years starting, parents are facing the same situation again as some school systems are only offering virtual teaching or homeschooling options. This adds to the work responsibilities mothers already face on a daily basis. Though we do not know the long-term health implications, we can predict that this further creates stress and impacts their mental wellbeing.

WANT SOME SOLUTIONS?

Mothers need to increase communication with their partner, establish routines, and seek help that will assist them to get through the next few months of homeschooling all while working from home and managing the household. Partners need to be more available and share the burden of housework and child responsibilities. It may be easier said than done for some but it still does not hurt to have an open dialogue with your partner to ask for additional help. For further tips to get you through homeschooling during these times please refer to this post.

Be sure to check back soon for a post on some tips and tricks to help mothers maintain their mental wellbeing and practice "self-care".

How are household responsibilities shared in your home? Do the kids prefer one parent over the other or is it dependent on the situation? Be sure to respond in the comments below.