Article

Housework and childcare during the lockdown, tasks undertaken mainly by women

Lídia Farré, Universitat de Barcelona and IAE-CSIC; Libertad González, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona GSE

In April 2020, the authors conducted a survey with more than 7,000 respondents in Spain, focusing on employment and housework before and during the lockdown period. The results of the survey, on which this article is based, show steep drops in employment, of similar magnitude for men and women. Housework, the burden of which already fell mostly on women before the lockdown, continued to be done by them to a disproportionate extent, despite a slight increase in participation by men.
Key points
  • 1
       During the lockdown there were major employment losses, most notably among workers without a university education and in non-essential industries and those not suited to working from home.
  • 2
       The employment rate fell by more than 20 points for both men and women, and by more than 30 points for workers without a university education.
  • 3
       In two-parent families with children, women did most of the housework before the lockdown. During the lockdown the participation of men in these tasks increased very slightly.
  • 4
       In one task alone, shopping, there were major changes: men came to do the shopping more than women.
Distribution of housework during the lockdown, in percentages
Distribution of housework during the lockdown, in percentages

Classification

Tags

Subject areas

Related content

Article

Uses, skills and attitude in digital technology fields. Does a gender gap exist?

Boys consider that they are more skilled than girls in digital technology and communication fields, whereas girls feel better prepared in ethical and security-related aspects.

Article

The role of schools in detecting gender violence

Sixty-eight per cent of minors who are exposed to gender violence in the home say nothing in the academic setting and teaching staff only perceive it if evident signs of violence exist. How can an effective model for the prevention of sexist violence be drawn up for primary and secondary schools?

Article

The impact of gender-based violence on sons and daughters: the role of schools according to the pupils

Some 93% of children have heard of gender violence. Their preferential source of information is the school setting but, if faced with a situation of gender-based violence, they are unsure whether it would be the place to find help.

Infodata

PhD qualifications by different branches of knowledge and by sex

While the participation of female PhD holders in Portugal is situated above the EU‑27 average in all fields of knowledge considered, in Spain the participation of female PhD holders is situated below the European average in the fields of art, humanities and social sciences.

Infodata

Feminisation of care work

In Spain, 10% of women perform care work, by far exceeding the 5% of male carers.

You may also find interesting

Gender inequality in paid and unpaid work after the pandemic

Article

Gender inequality in paid and unpaid work after the pandemic


Social Inclusion

Following the pandemic, 30% of men and 33% of women with children who are minors have been working from home at least one day a week. According to this study, this could favour greater equality in relation to family responsibilities.

Preventing discrimination and social exclusion in Spain

Article

Preventing discrimination and social exclusion in Spain


Social Inclusion

In Spain, not all immigrant groups are perceived equally. According to this study, 35.9% of native Spaniards stated that they have positive contacts with Moroccans, while the figure increased to 59.8% in relation to people of Latin American origin.

A systematic review of the research on rural vulnerability

Article

A systematic review of the research on rural vulnerability


Social Inclusion

This article presents a systematic review of the literature on rural vulnerability research in order to identify the different trends related to the sources of socio-environmental vulnerability in rural Spain.