Shifting Inequalities? Parents’ Sleep, Anxiety, and Calm during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia and the United States

Ruppanner, Leah; Tan, Xiao; Scarborough, William J.; Landivar, Liana Christin; Collins, Caitlyn

doi:10.1177/1097184x21990737

Cited by 52 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…On the other hand, research shows that mothers, on average, still perform more housework than fathers and spend a higher number of hours on home‐schooling and childcare responsibilities (Carlson et al., 2020; Ruppanner, Tan et al., 2021). To this point, a report by McKinsey & Company (2020) showed that during COVID‐19, “mothers are more than three times as likely as fathers to be responsible for most of the housework and caregiving” (p. 18).…”

Section: The Pandemic and Gender Inequality: Changes To Work And Familymentioning

confidence: 99%

The gendered pandemic: The implications of COVID‐19 for work and family

2021

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The COVID‐19 pandemic has affected nearly all the aspects of society since it's onset in early 2020. In addition to infecting and taking the lives of millions of global citizens, the pandemic has fundamentally changed family and work patterns. The pandemic and associated mitigation measures have increased the unemployment rates, amplified health risks for essential workers required to work on‐site, and led to unprecedented rates of telecommuting. Additionally, due to school/daycare closures and social distancing, many parents have lost access to institutional and informal childcare support during the COVID‐19 crisis. Such losses in childcare support have significantly impacted the paid and unpaid labor of parents, particularly of mothers. In this article, we synthesize recent research on pandemic‐related changes to work and family in the United States. Applying an intersectionality lens, we discuss the gendered implications of these changes. Because gender inequality in family and work are connected, COVID‐19 has, in many cases, deepened the pre‐existing gender inequalities in both realms.

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Section: The Pandemic and Gender Inequality: Changes To Work And Familymentioning

confidence: 99%

The gendered pandemic: The implications of COVID‐19 for work and family

2021

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“…Before COVID‐19 became a universal pandemic, women were doing more unpaid care and domestic work than men in both countries (Craig & Mullan, 2010). During the start of the pandemic, these divisions worsened with initial evidence showing mothers assumed a larger share of the domestic work in the US (Carlson et al., 2020; Ruppanner et al., 2021) and Australia (Craig & Churchill, 2021; Ruppanner et al., 2021). Amongst those in the US who have maintained employment, married mothers reduced work time across all child‐ages and even when they and their partner could work from home (Collins et al., 2020).…”

Section: A Gendered Pandemic: a Comparison Of Australia And Usmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whether this translates into women, and in particular, mothers reporting greater financial worry and emotional strain is not yet to be fully understood. Existing pandemic research shows US mothers carrying more domestic work and employment disruptions reported greater anxiety and poorer sleep than US fathers and Australian parents (Ruppanner et al., 2021). However, little is known about whether these experiences replicate for the childless population and, importantly, to what extent is heightened poor emotional health is driven by financial worry.…”

Section: A Gendered Pandemic: a Comparison Of Australia And Usmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional and financial health during COVID‐19: The role of housework, employment and childcare in Australia and the United States

Ruppanner

Tan

Carson

et al. 2021

Gender Work & Organization

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During the first few months of the COVID‐19 pandemic, the world witnessed major economic, school, and daycare closures. We sampled respondents in Australia and the US during the height of the first restrictions to understand how the first quarantine structured their emotional strain and financial worry (825 Australians and 835 Americans aged between 18 and 65; May 2–3, 2020; source YouGov). We apply structural equation modeling to demonstrate that the emotional well‐being impacts of COVID‐19 are not only gendered but also vary between childless people and parents. Specifically, we show that compared to Australians, Americans were more impacted by changes in their financial circumstances. Further, while the financial worry and emotional strain impacts were similar between childless people and parents in Australia, significant differences existed between the two groups in the United States. In particular, we identify American mothers as the most disadvantaged group—feeling the most anxious and financially worried about both employment and domestic changes under COVID‐19. Policy wise, we argue that COVID‐19 is exacerbating gender inequality in emotional health. To slow down this trend, more adequate mental health supports are needed, particularly for mothers.

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“…The use of lockdowns to attempt to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 in communities increased the household and child-rearing demands of both men and women [25]. A global study of academics found that this resulted in decreased time available to devote to research across the board; however, this was disproportionately experienced by women [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of Barriers to Career Progression for Academic Women in STEM

O’Connell

McKinnon

2021

Societies

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Gender equity in academia is a long-standing struggle. Although common to all disciplines, the impacts of bias and stereotypes are particularly pronounced in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. This paper explores what barriers exist for the career progression of women in academia in STEM disciplines in order to identify key issues and potential solutions. In particular, we were interested in how women perceive the barriers affecting their careers in comparison to their male colleagues. Fourteen focus groups with female-identifying academics showed that there were core barriers to career progression, which spanned countries, disciplines and career stages. Entrenched biases, stereotypes, double standards, bullying and harassment all negatively impact women’s confidence and sense of belonging. Women also face an additional biological burden, often being pushed to choose between having children or a career. Participants felt that their experiences as STEM academics were noticeably different to those of their male colleagues, where many of the commonly occurring barriers for women were simply non-issues for men. The results of this study indicate that some of these barriers can be overcome through networks, mentoring and allies. Addressing these barriers requires a reshaping of the gendered norms that currently limit progress to equity and inclusion.

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Shifting Inequalities? Parents’ Sleep, Anxiety, and Calm during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia and the United States

Cited by 52 publications

References 6 publications

The gendered pandemic: The implications of COVID‐19 for work and family

The gendered pandemic: The implications of COVID‐19 for work and family

Emotional and financial health during COVID‐19: The role of housework, employment and childcare in Australia and the United States

Perceptions of Barriers to Career Progression for Academic Women in STEM

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