It’s fairly well known that despite the situation improving somewhat in recent decades, women still tend to do the lions share of the domestic duties.  This has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has often meant working parents have to home school their child as well as attempt to continue working as normal from home.

It’s a situation that, perhaps unsurprisingly, new research from Washington University in St. Louis finds is placing an impossible strain on women’s work.  It’s a finding that the researchers believe could have enduring consequences for working mothers.

“Our findings indicate mothers are bearing the brunt of the pandemic and may face long-term employment penalties as a consequence,” the researchers explain.

Uneven split

The analysis revealed that the work hours of mothers dropped by up to five times as much as fathers’ during March and April, with working mothers scaling back their work by around 5%, or two hours each week, to cope with the other challenges presented by the lockdown, especially involving the homeschooling of children.

The researchers used data from the US Current Population Survey to understand how dual-earner heterosexual married couples with children were adjusting to life under lockdown, with a particular focus on those couples where both parents were able to work remotely.

“Even among households in which both parents are able to work from home and are directly exposed to childcare and housework demands, mothers are scaling back to meet these responsibilities to a greater extent than fathers. Ultimately, our analyses reveal that gender inequality in parents’ work hours has worsened during the pandemic,” the researchers say.

The researchers hypothesize that in times of crisis, it’s common for families to revert to more traditional gender roles in terms of household jobs.  Equally, the financial stress caused by the pandemic might force families to protect the primary earner, which even today is often the father.

Long-term impact

What the researchers are particularly interested in, however, is whether this shift in share of domestic duties becomes more permanent in the longer-term, and what impact this might have on women’s careers.

“Scaling back work is part of a downward spiral that often leads to labor force exits — especially in cases where employers are inflexible with schedules or penalize employees unable to meet work expectations in the face of growing care demands,” the researchers say.  “We are also concerned that many employers will be looking for ways to save money and it may be at the expense of mothers who have already weakened their labor market attachment.”

The researchers also raise concerns about future promotions, especially if they’re based upon work undertaken during a pandemic in which normal productivity has been so unjustly skewed.  It’s a situation that the authors don’t believe is likely to change any time soon, which may have a lasting impact on the careers of working mothers.

“Flexibility is key right now,” they urge. “By easing work demands and allowing flexibility where possible in the coming months, employers can prevent long-term losses in women’s labor force participation. And fathers should be encouraged to provide more hours of care for their children, even if it means sacrificing paid work hours to do so.”