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Working from Home During Covid-19 Pandemic and Changes to Fertility Intentions Among Parents

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Kurowska

    (University of Warsaw
    University of Warsaw)

  • Anna Matysiak

    (University of Warsaw)

  • Beata Osiewalska

    (Cracow University of Economics
    University of Warsaw)

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic and related massive spread of home based work led to substantial changes in the conditions for combining work and childbearing. On the one hand, working from home helped parents to accommodate increased childcare needs during the pandemic. On the other hand, it led to acute experiences of blurred boundaries between work and family life during childcare and school closures. Therefore, the direction of the impact of working from home on fertility intentions during the pandemic is not unequivocal. In this paper, we investigate how working from home was related to change in fertility intentions of mothers and fathers during the pandemic and discuss the complex mechanisms behind these relationships. With the use of unique Familydemic Survey data from a representative sample of parents in Poland, we estimate multinomial logit regressions by gender and consider a set of potential moderators, including financial well-being, gender relations, and occupational characteristics. We find evidence for an overall negative relationship between home based work and fertility intentions for mothers, but we also uncover some positive moderating effects. In particular, we shed light on the unobvious moderating role of gendered division of unpaid labor from before the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Kurowska & Anna Matysiak & Beata Osiewalska, 2023. "Working from Home During Covid-19 Pandemic and Changes to Fertility Intentions Among Parents," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-31, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:39:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10680-023-09678-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-023-09678-z
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    1. Wilde, Joshua & Chen, Wei & Lohmann, Sophie, 2020. "COVID-19 and the Future of US Fertility: What Can We Learn from Google?," SocArXiv 2bgqs, Center for Open Science.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Sven Fischer, 2023. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Marriage and Childbirth: Survey-based Evidence from Iran," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202320, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fertility intentions; Childbearing decisions; Covid-19 pandemic; Coronavirus pandemic; Working from home; Telecommuting; Telework; Home based work; Work-family reconciliation; Work-family conflict; Parents; Gender relations; Division of unpaid work;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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