Childcare during the pandemic: Mothers are doing more, but fathers are catching up
After schools and daycare centers closed for lockdown, many parents had to care for their younger children and help older children with schoolwork while also working from home. A study based on data from “Living in Germany” found that during lockdown, mothers spent more time on childcare than fathers: On weekdays, mothers spent an average of 9.6 hours and fathers 5.3 hours taking care of children under the age of 11. Nevertheless, men were more involved than before the pandemic: They spent on average of 89 percent more time on childcare than in the previous year. Most parents found homeschooling tolerable, but single parents and less educated parents felt they did not receive enough support from their children’s schools. To read the study by SOEP researcher Sabine Zinn, click here.
Further information
DIW Berlin: Kinderbetreuung in Corona-Zeiten: Mütter tragen die Hauptlast, aber Väter holen auf