Family well-being, childcare and gender
Mothers work less, earn less and dedicate more of their time to housework and childcare than fathers. Availability of and state support for childcare is particularly important for mothers and they are disproportionately affected when it is withdrawn or access to it is limited.
When schools and nurseries closed due to the pandemic, mothers took up more of the burden of childcare and home-schooling than fathers.
In new Nuffield Foundation funded research, Birgitta Rabe and co-authors from the University of Essex examine the causal effect of school availability on families.
The striking finding from their research is that mothers experienced sharp falls in well-being when their children were out of school, but there was no effect on fathers’ well-being.
This event will launch these findings and considers their more general implications. Pandemic school closures can be considered a restriction on childcare. Will future restrictions in childcare access once again harm women’s well-being?
Confirmed speakers
- Professor Birgitta Rabe (University of Essex) on “School access and parents’ mental health”.
- Megan Jarvie (Coram Family and Childcare) on “The childcare crisis and the impacts for families”.
- Professor Almudena Sevilla (London School of Economics) on “The long-term pandemic consequences for gender equality”.
- Professor Lucinda Platt (London School of Economics) on “Gendered inequalities in public and private spheres”.
- More TBA.
The event will take place on Wednesday 19th of October, 2022 from 9:30am to 12:00pm.
Location: Nuffield Foundation, 100 St John Street, London EC1M 4EH & online via Zoom
Register via Eventbrite here
If you are unable to attend, please feel free to share the event details and registration link with members of your network you think may be interested.
This hybrid event will be held at the Nuffield Foundation in London with the option to watch the presentations and take part in the discussions online. In person guests are invited to arrive at the Nuffield Foundation for registration from 9:30am. The event will begin at 10:00am and will be followed by a networking lunch.
