The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Doctors’ Work-Family Balance at German University Clinics

Abstract

The measures taken to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic by governments worldwide have vast consequences on all areas of life. To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on long-term career development, we evaluated the work-family balance of medical doctors at nine German university clinics. The results indicate a severely disturbed work-family balance, which was mostly due to insufficient childcare, based on restrictions in school operations and childcare. Despite the newly created emergency childcare options, aiming to ensure the functioning of the “systematically important” professional groups, medical doctors feel that they are not sufficiently supported by the measures taken by local governments. Women, in particular, see their professional development at risk. Our results underline that proper and flexible childcare is essential for the career advancement of female medical doctors and is particularly important in times of crises such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. At university medicine clinics, increased work time flexibility and optimized schooling and childcare are needed to promote the career development of female as well as male medical doctors in the early stage of their careers.

Associations of Work-Family Conflict with Family-Specific, Work-Specific, and Well-Being-Related Variables in a Sample of Polish and Ukrainian Adults during the Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The COVID-19 pandemic also changed the overall work organization and arrangements, accelerating and disrupting various trends in the work area [ 17 ]. In particular, many schools and workplaces were closed during the lockdown, so stationary work was changed to remote online, and working parents were forced to divide their time between caring for children and teleworking [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. Experts assumed the transition to telework was one of the essential issues for occupational health during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 26 ].…”

“…One of the most sensitive groups for high WFC and FWC was parents of minor children [ 22 , 23 , 24 ]. For example, a disturbed work-family balance was found among German medical doctors due to insufficient childcare when schools and preschools were closed during the pandemic [ 19 ]. The study among Portuguese-employed parents showed that, dependent on the stationary or online type of work, diverse experiences were reported during the lockdown [ 18 ].…”

“…Women with fewer educational, economic, and professional resources were more likely to play the role of caregivers, contributing to gender inequalities at work and in the family, as suggested by the literature [ 16 ]. Compared to men, women were more responsible for childcare, schooling, and household tasks, working primarily from home and reducing their work hours [ 19 , 23 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Overload in caregiving and overall workload in women was related to heightened WFC and FWC, as well as parenting stress, general perceived stress, concerns about job insecurity, general and neck/shoulder pain, stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and lower life satisfaction [ 19 , 23 , 24 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ].…”

“…Compared to men, women were more responsible for childcare, schooling, and household tasks, working primarily from home and reducing their work hours [ 19 , 23 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Overload in caregiving and overall workload in women was related to heightened WFC and FWC, as well as parenting stress, general perceived stress, concerns about job insecurity, general and neck/shoulder pain, stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and lower life satisfaction [ 19 , 23 , 24 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ]. In particular, solely employed mothers were at higher risk of mental health adverse effects and job-related well-being than partnered working mothers [ 38 ].…”

“…Based on previous literature [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ], we assume that changes in lifestyle during the COVID-19 pandemic were stressful events that contributed to the work-family imbalance, leading to high WFC and FWC [ 16 ]. We will examine the differences in WFC, FWC, well-being dimensions, and time pressure across countries, genders, relationship status, parenthood experience, caring for children under 12, and type of work (stationary vs. remote).…”