IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/gender/v29y2022i4p1065-1081.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the domestic division of labor when both parents are involuntarily working from home: The effects of the UK COVID pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Reece Garcia

Abstract

As part of the UK's response to the COVID pandemic many co‐habiting parents simultaneously began working from home, often involuntarily, potentially disrupting established divisions of domestic labor. Through 30 qualitative interviews with 15 heterosexual dual‐earning parents, this article explores the extent and nature of changes in respective labor allocations following the transition to home working. The data reveals that both women and men increased their time spent on domestic labor, though typically men's changes were insufficient to overturn pre‐existing unequal divisions, and women were more likely to reduce their employment hours to “better” balance caring and housework responsibilities. Men were also likely to see their increased domestic contributions as temporary during these exceptional circumstances with evidence of couples “doing” gender. Where partners did transition toward greater egalitarianism, men were actively taking ownership of new unpaid tasks and adapting their (gendered) familial identities as their work and family roles changed.

Suggested Citation

  • Reece Garcia, 2022. "Exploring the domestic division of labor when both parents are involuntarily working from home: The effects of the UK COVID pandemic," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 1065-1081, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:4:p:1065-1081
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12796
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12796
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/gwao.12796?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sophie Hennekam & Yuliya Shymko, 2020. "Coping with the COVID‐19 crisis: force majeure and gender performativity," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 788-803, September.
    2. Almudena Sevilla & Sarah Smith, 2020. "Baby steps: the gender division of childcare during the COVID-19 pandemic," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 169-186.
    3. Dharma Raju Bathini & George Mathew Kandathil, 2019. "An Orchestrated Negotiated Exchange: Trading Home-Based Telework for Intensified Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 411-423, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Myriam Chatot & Julie Landour & Ariane Pailhé & for the EpiCOV team, 2023. "Socioeconomic differences and the gender division of labor during the COVID‐19 lockdown: Insights from France using a mixed method," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1296-1316, July.
    2. Manwel Debono & Christine Garzia, 2023. "Trade Union Members’ Experiences and Attitudes towards Working from Home during the Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-22, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maria Victoria Uribe Bohorquez & Isabel María García Sánchez, 2023. "Sustainability in times of crisis: Female employment during COVID‐19," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(6), pages 3124-3139, November.
    2. Dharshani Thennakoon & Shalini Dananja Kumari Wanninayake & Pavithra Kailasapathy, 2022. "Honey, How Can I Help? Gender and Distribution of Unpaid Labour during COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-17, November.
    3. Claudia Hupkau & Barbara Petrongolo, 2020. "Work, Care and Gender during the COVID‐19 Crisis," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 623-651, September.
    4. Israel Escudero-Castillo & Fco. Javier Mato-Díaz & Ana Rodriguez-Alvarez, 2021. "Furloughs, Teleworking and Other Work Situations during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Impact on Mental Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-16, March.
    5. Livia Alfonsi & Mary Namubiru & Sara Spaziani, 2024. "Gender gaps: back and here to stay? Evidence from skilled Ugandan workers during COVID-19," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 999-1046, September.
    6. Malik, Ashish & Mahadevan, Jasmin & Sharma, Piyush & Nguyen, Tuyet-Mai, 2021. "Masking, claiming and preventing innovation in cross-border B2B relationships: Neo-colonial frameworks of power in global IT industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 327-339.
    7. Sonia OREFICCE & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2021. "Gender inequality in COVID-19 times: evidence from UK prolific participants," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(2), pages 261-287, June.
    8. Daniela Del Boca & Noemi Oggero & Paola Profeta & Maria Cristina Rossi, 2021. "Did COVID-19 Affect the Division of Labor within the Household? Evidence from Two Waves of the Pandemic in Italy," Working Papers 2021-043, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    9. Beland, Louis-Philippe & Brodeur, Abel & Haddad, Joanne & Mikola, Derek, 2020. "Covid-19, Family Stress and Domestic Violence: Remote Work, Isolation and Bargaining Power," GLO Discussion Paper Series 571, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    10. Titan Alon & Sena Coskun & Matthias Doepke & David Koll & Michèle Tertilt, 2022. "From Mancession to Shecession: Women’s Employment in Regular and Pandemic Recessions," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(1), pages 83-151.
    11. Ana Tribin & Karen García-Rojas & Paula Herrera-Idarraga & Leonardo Fabio Morales & Natalia Ramirez-Bustamante, 2023. "Shecession: The Downfall of Colombian Women During the Covid-19 Pandemic," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 158-193, October.
    12. Bozena Wielgoszewska & Alex Bryson & Monica Costa-Dias & Francesca Foliano & Heather Joshi & David Wilkinson, 2021. "Exploring the Reasons for Labour Market Gender Inequality a Year into the Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the UK Cohort Studies," DoQSS Working Papers 21-23, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    13. repec:hal:journl:hal-03627187 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Katri Otonkorpi‐Lehtoranta & Milla Salin & Mia Hakovirta & Anniina Kaittila, 2022. "Gendering boundary work: Experiences of work–family practices among Finnish working parents during COVID‐19 lockdown," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 1952-1968, November.
    15. Sorana-Alexandra Constantinescu & Maria-Henriete Pozsar, 2022. "Was This Supposed to Be on the Test? Academic Leadership, Gender and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Denmark, Hungary, Romania, and United Kingdom," Publications, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, April.
    16. Stefanie Stantcheva, 2022. "Inequalities in the times of a pandemic," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 37(109), pages 5-41.
    17. Eiji Yamamura & Yoshiro Tsustsui, 2021. "School closures and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(4), pages 1261-1298, October.
    18. Océane Bertrand & Maxime Fontaine & Thomas Hausmann, 2021. "Réduire le temps de travail pour améliorer l’emploi des moins qualifiés ?Une évaluation socio-économique ex-ante du passage à la semaine de 4 jours au sein de l’Agence Bruxelles-Propreté," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/338537, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    19. Suzan Abdel-Rahman & Mohamed R. Abonazel & Fuad A. Awwad & B. M. Golam Kibria, 2023. "The Impact of COVID-19-Induced Responsibilities on Women’s Employment in Arab Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-18, June.
    20. Antonietta Cosentino & Paola Paoloni, 2021. "Women’s Skills and Aptitudes as Drivers of Organizational Resilience: An Italian Case Study," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, November.
    21. Tachia Chin & Yi Shi & Manlio Giudice & Jianwei Meng & Zeyu Xing, 2023. "Working from anywhere: yin–yang cognition paradoxes of knowledge sharing and hiding for developing careers in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:4:p:1065-1081. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0968-6673 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.