COVID-19, Gender Housework Division and Municipality Size in Spain

Rosa Roig, Cristina Aybar and Jose M. Pavía
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Rosa Roig: GIPEyOP, Department of Applied Economics, Universitat de Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Cristina Aybar: GIPEyOP, Department of Applied Economics, Universitat de Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Jose M. Pavía: GIPEyOP, Department of Applied Economics, Universitat de Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain

Social Sciences, 2022, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: The COVID-19 health crisis brought with it an increase in the workload on family members due to the restriction of services and the suspension of formal and informal care networks. Numerous studies have analyzed how home confinement have affected different gender gaps, including the gender gap related to chores within the home. This research aims to contribute to the existing literature from the perspective of gender geography by introducing the variable municipality size in the analyses. Our research in the case of Spain shows the COVID-19 health crisis to have had a significant impact on gender gaps, albeit to varying degrees. Women, especially those living in small municipalities, experienced a widening of the gap related to care and domestic workload during confinement. The study of the distribution of the more burdensome chores between genders shows an even more imbalanced scenario to the detriment of women. However, following the end of confinement, the situation improved. Although the imbalance against women remains, the gap with respect to the pre-pandemic situation has been reduced.

Keywords: gender inequality; household chores; care; confinement; geography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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