Family Life in Lockdown

Pietro Biroli (), Steven Bosworth, Marina Della Giusta (), Amalia Di Girolamo, Sylvia Jaworska and Jeremy Vollen
Additional contact information
Sylvia Jaworska: University of Reading
Jeremy Vollen: University of Zurich

No 2020-051, Working Papers from Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group

Abstract: The lockdown imposed following the COVID-19 pandemic of spring 2020 dramatically changed the daily lives and routines of millions of people worldwide. We analyse how such changes contributed to gender inequality within the household using a novel survey of Italian, British, and American families in lockdown. A high percentage report disruptions in the patterns of family life, manifesting in new work patterns, chore allocations, and household tensions. Though men have taken an increased share of childcare and grocery shopping duties, reallocations are not nearly as stark as disruptions to work patterns might suggest, and families having to reallocate duties report greater tensions. Our results paint a picture of tightened constraints budging up against stable and gendered patterns of intra-household cooperation. While the long-run consequences of the COVID-19 lockdown on family life cannot be assessed at this stage, we point towards the likely opportunities and challenges.

Keywords: lockdown; care; housework; tensions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 H75 I14 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur
Note: ECI, HI
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (45)

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http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Biroli ... life-in-lockdown.pdf First version, June 23, 2020 (application/pdf)
http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Biroli ... e-in-lockdown_v1.pdf Second version, September 22, 2020 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Family Life in Lockdown (2020)
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