IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v10y2021i7p239-d580286.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Reshaping of Daily Time during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lone Parent’s Work-Family Articulation in a Low-Intensity Lockdown

Author

Listed:
  • Núria Sánchez-Mira

    (Institute of Social Sciences and NCCR LIVES, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Laura Bernardi

    (Institute of Social Sciences and NCCR LIVES, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Benjamin Moles-Kalt

    (Institute of Social Sciences and NCCR LIVES, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Cléolia Sabot

    (Institute of Social Sciences and NCCR LIVES, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions have triggered simultaneous changes across multiple life domains within a very short timeframe. This major shock has seriously challenged the ability of families to adapt to unanticipated changes over which they had little control. Switzerland instigated a low-intensity lockdown in response to COVID-19 in the spring of 2020. The resulting alterations to family life included changes to employment situations and working conditions (such as layoffs, temporary unemployment and home-based work) and the need to arrange home-schooling and childcare. This study examines how a sample of individuals with a trajectory of lone parenthood living in French-speaking Switzerland adapted their everyday lives to accommodate the shifting demands in the domains of employment and family responsibilities. Interviews were conducted between April and June 2020 for the longitudinal project “The multiple paths of lone parenthood”. Using this data, we analysed the COVID-related changes to work and family life, focusing on their time structuring. We found that parents who remained employed faced the greatest time pressures, although their experiences varied significantly depending on the adaptability of their work schedules, as well as the child(ren)’s age(s) and degree of autonomy. Home-based work and home-schooling resulted in more flexible schedules, although parents with the greatest work and family demands sought more time-structured organisation to facilitate their articulation. Social support was a crucial buffer for parents with conflicting demands across domains.

Suggested Citation

  • Núria Sánchez-Mira & Laura Bernardi & Benjamin Moles-Kalt & Cléolia Sabot, 2021. "The Reshaping of Daily Time during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lone Parent’s Work-Family Articulation in a Low-Intensity Lockdown," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-25, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:7:p:239-:d:580286
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/7/239/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/7/239/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Doris Hanappi & Valérie-Anne Ryser & Laura Bernardi & Jean-Marie Le Goff, 2017. "Changes in Employment Uncertainty and the Fertility Intention–Realization Link: An Analysis Based on the Swiss Household Panel," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 381-407, July.
    2. Alison Andrew & Sarah Cattan & Monica Costa Dias & Christine Farquharson & Lucy Kraftman & Sonya Krutikova & Angus Phimister & Almudena Sevilla, 2022. "The gendered division of paid and domestic work under lockdown," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 325-340, December.
    3. Aimzhan Iztayeva, 2021. "Custodial Single Fathers before and during the COVID-19 Crisis: Work, Care, and Well-Being," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Yue Qian & Sylvia Fuller, 2020. "COVID-19 and the Gender Employment Gap among Parents of Young Children," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 46(S2), pages 89-101, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Titan Alon & Sena Coskun & Matthias Doepke & David Koll & Michèle Tertilt, 2022. "From Mancession to Shecession: Women’s Employment in Regular and Pandemic Recessions," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(1), pages 83-151.
    2. Elisa Brini & Stefani Scherer & Agnese Vitali, 2024. "Gender and Beyond: Employment Patterns during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(3), pages 1-23, June.
    3. María del Pilar Toyos, 2022. "Cierre de escuelas en pandemia y brechas de género en Argentina: ¿madres más vulnerables?," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4603, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    4. McGinnity, Frances & Russell, Helen & Alamir, Anousheh, 2024. "The equality impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Irish labour market," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number JR6.
    5. Claudia Hupkau & Barbara Petrongolo, 2020. "Work, Care and Gender during the COVID‐19 Crisis," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 623-651, September.
    6. Livia Alfonsi & Mary Namubiru & Sara Spaziani, 2024. "Gender gaps: back and here to stay? Evidence from skilled Ugandan workers during COVID-19," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 999-1046, September.
    7. Cavapozzi, Danilo & Francesconi, Marco & Nicoletti, Cheti, 2024. "Dividing Housework between Partners: Individual Preferences and Social Norms," IZA Discussion Papers 17370, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Ana Tribin & Karen García-Rojas & Paula Herrera-Idarraga & Leonardo Fabio Morales & Natalia Ramirez-Bustamante, 2023. "Shecession: The Downfall of Colombian Women During the Covid-19 Pandemic," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 158-193, October.
    9. Fukai, Taiyo & Ikeda, Masato & Kawaguchi, Daiji & Yamaguchi, Shintaro, 2023. "COVID-19 and the employment gender gap in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    10. Stefanie Stantcheva, 2022. "Inequalities in the times of a pandemic," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 37(109), pages 5-41.
    11. Céline Piton, 2022. "The labour market performance of vulnerable groups: towards a better understanding of the main driving forces," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/352519, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    12. Doris Hanappi & Oliver Lipps, 2019. "Job insecurity and parental well-being: The role of parenthood and family factors," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(31), pages 897-932.
    13. Petrongolo, Barbara & Hupkau, Claudia, 2020. "Work, care and gender during the Covid-19 crisis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108463, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Alison Andrew & Sarah Cattan & Monica Costa Dias & Christine Farquharson & Lucy Kraftman & Sonya Krutikova & Angus Phimister & Almudena Sevilla, 2022. "The gendered division of paid and domestic work under lockdown," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 325-340, December.
    15. Selda Coşkuner Aktaş, 2025. "Was COVID-19-related working from home (WFH) a chance for change? Gender-based experiences of parents," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    16. Daniele Vignli & Letizia Mencarini & Giammarco Alderotti, 2018. "Is the Impact of Employment Uncertainty on Fertility Intentions Channeled by Subjective Well-Being?," Working Papers 114, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
    17. Tőkés, László, 2025. "Javítja-e a női munkavállalók válság állóságát a női döntéshozók jelenléte?. Nemi homofília és a she-cession jelenség [Does the presence of female decision-makers improve the crisis resilience of f," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(2), pages 141-157.
    18. Leonardo Fabio Morales & Leonardo Bonilla‐Mejía & Jose Pulido & Luz A. Flórez & Didier Hermida & Karen L. Pulido‐Mahecha & Francisco Lasso‐Valderrama, 2022. "Effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the Colombian labour market: Disentangling the effect of sector‐specific mobility restrictions," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(S1), pages 308-357, February.
    19. Marco Novelli & Alberto Cazzola & Aurora Angeli & Lucia Pasquini, 2021. "Fertility Intentions in Times of Rising Economic Uncertainty: Evidence from Italy from a Gender Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 257-284, February.
    20. Zoch, Gundula & Bächmann, Ann-Christin & Vicari, Basha, 2020. "Care-Arrangements and Parental Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany," IAB-Discussion Paper 202035, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:7:p:239-:d:580286. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.