Juggling during Lockdown: Balancing Telework and Family Life in Pandemic Times and Its Perceived Consequences for the Health and Wellbeing of Working Women

Mariana Loezar-Hernández, Erica Briones-Vozmediano (), Elena Ronda-Pérez and Laura Otero-García
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Mariana Loezar-Hernández: Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy, University of Lleida, 25008 Lleida, Spain
Erica Briones-Vozmediano: Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy, University of Lleida, 25008 Lleida, Spain
Elena Ronda-Pérez: Department of Community Nursing, Preventive Medicine, Public Health and History of Science, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
Laura Otero-García: Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP-ISCIII), 28029 Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted work-family balance due to lockdown measures. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of working mothers in Spain and the consequences of trying to balance work and family for their health and wellbeing. We conducted a qualitative study based on 18 semi-structured interviews with mothers of children under 10. Five themes were identified: (1) Telework—characteristics and challenges of a new labor scenario; (2) Survival and chaos—inability to work, look after children, and manage a household at the same time; (3) Is co-responsibility a matter of luck?—challenges when sharing housework during lockdown; (4) Breakdown of the care and social support system; and (5) decline in health of women trying to balance work and family life. Mothers who had to balance telework against family life suffered physical, mental, and social effects, such as anxiety, stress, sleep deprivation, and relationship problems. This study suggests that, in situations of crisis, gender inequality increases in the household, and women tend to shift back to traditional gendered roles. Governments and employers should be made aware of this, and public policies should be implemented to facilitate work-family reconciliation and co-responsibility within couples

Keywords: work-life balance; work-family conflict; COVID-19; telework; women’s health; gender role; qualitative research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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