Working from Home and the Division of Childcare and Housework among Dual-Earner Parents during the Pandemic in the UK

Heejung Chung (), Hyojin Seo, Holly Birkett and Sarah Forbes
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Heejung Chung: School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, Division of Law, Society, and Social Justice, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NF, UK
Hyojin Seo: Centre for Sociological Research, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Holly Birkett: Department of Management, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Sarah Forbes: School for Business and Society, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK

Merits, 2022, vol. 2, issue 4, 1-23

Abstract: This paper examines whether the expansion of working from home led to a more equal division of domestic work during the pandemic. We use unique data of dual-earner heterosexual couples gathered during the first lockdown in the UK when workers were required to work from home by law. Results reveal that mothers were likely to be carrying out a larger share of domestic work both before and during the lockdown. When fathers worked from home, compared to those going into work, a more equitable division was found for cleaning and routine childcare. Furthermore, homeworking fathers were up to 3.5 times more likely to report that they increased the time they spent on childcare during the lockdown compared to before. However, we also found evidence of homeworking mothers having increased their time spent on domestic work, and doing a larger share of routine childcare, compared to mothers going into work. Overall, the study shows that when working from home is normalised through law and practice, it may better enable men to engage more in domestic work, which can in turn better support women’s labour market participation. However, without significant changes to our work cultures and gender norms, homeworking still has the potential to enable or maintain a traditional division of labour, further exacerbating gender inequality patterns both at home and in the labour market.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; working from home; division of housework; childcare; gender inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J L M (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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