Project duration: 1 April 2021 to 30 June 2024

Project description

The first COVID-19 lockdown in Austria, starting in mid-March 2020, had massive consequences for family life. Families were rather isolated as kindergardens and schools were closed for two months and grandparents and other external carers were discouraged from helping. Families were confronted with the new and highly challenging situation that they suddenly were (almost) fully in charge of childcare and home schooling. Correspondingly, time for childcare and housework increased rapidly. Lockdowns also affected employment. While employees in system-relevant occupations mostly continued to work at their work places, other employees were required to work from home. Moreover, the government strongly supported short-time employment. During lockdowns, restaurants, hotels and most shops (except for groceries, pharmacies etc.) closed and the unemployment rate soared. 

Against this background, the project addresses the following questions: How did couples distribute the additional family work (i.e. childcare and housework)? Which employment models emerged, e.g. both part-time (short-time) employment? Who of the partners worked from home? Did working from home have similar consequences in terms of childcare and housework for women and men? Which arrangements regarding working time (evenings/nights, weekends) developed? We study in detail the role of family situation and other factors. How couples distribute (un)paid work strongly depends on age and number of children, but also on both partners' income and education. 

The project is based on the Austrian microcensus and the data from the Austrian Corona Panel Project (ACPP). We focus mostly on the period between 2019 and summer 2021 (after the third lockdown). Preliminary results suggest that, during lockdowns, women took over a large part of the additional family duties, but, at the same time, less traditional arrangements appeared. This concerned, for instance, couples in which fathers worked short-time from home, thus assuming the majority of childcare, while mothers worked in system-relevant occupations full-time at their workplaces.