Parenthood and dynamics of life satisfaction in times of COVID‐19

Abstract

We analyze data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, including a pre-pandemic baseline and seven survey waves between May 2020 and September 2021. Fixed effects panel regression models are run over more than 11,000 individuals, distinguishing among women and men with young children (<5 years), older children (5-15 years), or no children in the household. We hypothesize that declines in life satisfaction during the first lockdown are sharper among parents, whose domestic demands increase, than among the childless. We develop competing hypotheses that parents might be resilient and have higher life satisfaction during the later phases of the pandemic (Adaptation Hypothesis) or that the pandemic stressors accumulate, leading to even lower satisfaction over time (Accumulation Hypothesis). The results only support the Accumulation Hypothesis among mothers. Whereas mothers fared comparatively well during the first lockdown, further pandemic stressors have seemingly exhausted their resilience, leading to stronger declines during the winter 2020/2021 lockdown. Among men with older children and without children, life satisfaction decreased during the first and subsequent lockdowns. Men with young children were the only group with almost unchanged life satisfaction throughout the pandemic.

Stressful life events and depressive symptoms during COVID‐19: A gender comparison

“…In view of the still entrenched norms of masculinity that emphasize toughness (Courtenay, 2000), men may be less willing to disclose experiences of stress, so we may have underestimated the extent of stressful life events that men experienced during the pandemic. In terms of the observed differences in types of SLE between women and men, they may reflect gendered expectations and experiences, that is, women are socially expected to and typically do bear a greater burden of managing work‐family responsibilities and caring for others in their social networks (Hudde et al., 2023; Kessler et al., 1985; Taylor, 2015; Yavorsky et al., 2021). Therefore, women were more likely than men to perceive paid or care work, or events that happened to people in their social circles, as stressful during COVID‐19.…”

“…Advancing prior checklist‐based research, we drew on respondents' own words to understand their experiences during COVID‐19, an invaluable approach to discerning “how individuals perceive and evaluate the events in their own life” (Stanhope et al., 2021, p. 2). Adopting a gendered lens, we expected women to be more likely than men to report at least one type of SLE, given women's disadvantaged social positions and the ample evidence of COVID‐19 in exacerbating gender inequalities (Fan & Moen, 2022; Hudde et al., 2023; Ridgeway, 2011; Yavorsky et al., 2021). In addition, we expected women and men to consider different types of events to be stressful, given the gendered division of paid and unpaid labour and women's greater sensitivity to the well‐being of their significant others (Helgeson, 2011; Kessler et al., 1985; Taylor, 2015).…”

“…Advancing prior checklist-based research, we drew on respondents' own words to understand their experiences during COVID-19, an invaluable approach to discerning "how individuals perceive and evaluate the events in their own life" (Stanhope et al, 2021, p. 2). Adopting a gendered lens, we expected women to be more likely than men to report at least one type of SLE, given women's disadvantaged social positions and the ample evidence of COVID-19 in exacerbating gender inequalities (Fan & Moen, 2022;Hudde et al, 2023;Ridgeway, 2011;Yavorsky et al, 2021).…”