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The impact of COVID-19 on the gender division of housework and childcare: Evidence from two waves of the pandemic in Italy

Daniela del Boca
Daniela del Boca
, 
Noemi Oggero
Noemi Oggero
, 
Paola Profeta
Paola Profeta
 e 
Maria Cristina Rossi
Maria Cristina Rossi
   | 03 ago 2022
IZA Journal of Labor Economics's Cover Image
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Pubblicato online: 03 ago 2022
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Accettato: 23 mag 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajole-2022-0003
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© 2022 Daniela del Boca et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Working arrangements during the first and second waves of COVID-19.Notes: Percentage of working women and their partners by working arrangement in April and November 2020.
Working arrangements during the first and second waves of COVID-19.Notes: Percentage of working women and their partners by working arrangement in April and November 2020.

Figure 2

Hours of housework, childcare, and devoted to children's distance learning before the emergency, during the first and second waves of COVID-19.Notes: The sample in the first panel is made up of women cohabiting with a partner. The sample in the second and third panels is made up of women with children cohabiting with a partner.
Hours of housework, childcare, and devoted to children's distance learning before the emergency, during the first and second waves of COVID-19.Notes: The sample in the first panel is made up of women cohabiting with a partner. The sample in the second and third panels is made up of women with children cohabiting with a partner.

Multivariate regression model of gender gaps in the daily hours of housework, childcare, and children's distance learning during the second wave of COVID-19

(1) (2) (3)
Gap in hours of housework Gap in hours of childcare Gap in hours of children's distance learning
Women's age 0.031*** (0.010) −0.077*** (0.024) −0.011 (0.009)
Women having a degree −0.084 (0.186) 0.108 (0.426) −0.099 (0.165)
Women having children 0.271 (0.186)
Center −0.174 (0.235) 0.236 (0.546) −0.055 (0.211)
South 0.605*** (0.212) 0.018 (0.483) 0.232 (0.187)
Women working from home 0.433* (0.227) 1.164** (0.523) 0.199 (0.202)
Women not working 0.111 (0.252) 3.736*** (0.595) 0.466** (0.231)
Partner working from home −0.409 (0.265) −0.577 (0.619) −0.050 (0.240)
Partner not working −0.657** (0.255) −2.175*** (0.595) −0.221 (0.230)
Constant −0.430 (0.477) 4.945*** (1.161) 1.037** (0.450)
Observations 504 332 332
R-squared 0.063 0.169 0.026

Multivariate regression model of hours spent on childcare by women and their partners during the first and second waves of COVID-19

(1) (2) (3) (4)
Hours spent on childcare by women during the lockdown Hours spent on childcare by partners during the lockdown Hours spent on childcare by women during the second wave of COVID-19 Hours spent on childcare by partners during the second wave of COVID-19
Women's age −0.033 (0.053) −0.069 (0.052) −0.093** (0.040) −0.083** (0.033)
Women having a degree 0.443 (0.728) 0.037 (0.721) 0.621 (0.549) 0.473 (0.451)
Having children aged 0–5 years 4.041*** (0.933) 2.648*** (0.924) 3.784*** (0.700) 1.611*** (0.575)
Having children aged 6–10 years 2.165*** (0.806) 0.978 (0.799) −0.114 (0.604) −0.116 (0.496)
Centre −1.366 (0.928) −1.810* (0.919) −0.155 (0.698) −0.455 (0.574)
South 1.431* (0.819) 0.583 (0.811) 0.720 (0.622) 0.847* (0.511)
Women's hours of paid work −0.012 (0.026) −0.013 (0.025) −0.019 (0.025) 0.020 (0.020)
Women working from home 0.590 (0.945) −0.058 (0.936) 1.444** (0.676) 0.482 (0.556)
Women not working 2.635** (1.045) 0.218 (1.036) 3.079*** (1.075) 0.713 (0.884)
Partner working from home 0.802 (0.935) 1.291 (0.927) 0.469 (0.793) 1.192* (0.651)
Partner not working 0.856 (0.830) 1.512* (0.823) −0.397 (0.761) 1.640*** (0.626)
Constant 3.641 (2.927) 5.548* (2.901) 7.149*** (2.149) 4.660*** (1.766)
Observations 273 273 332 332
R-squared 0.222 0.126 0.285 0.147

Hours of housework and childcare during the first and second waves of COVID-19

Partners working at the usual workplace Partners working from home Partners not working
Panel (A) Men and women's hours of housework during the first wave of COVID-19 by working arrangementa
Women working at the usual workplace Women 3.14 Women 2.47 Women 2.30
Partners 2.19 Partners 2 Partners 1.33
Difference 0.95*** Difference 0.47 Difference 0.96***
N = 42 N = 15 N = 27
Women working from home Women 2.52 Women 3.03 Women 2.96
Partners 1.26 Partners 1.57 Partners 1.57
Difference 1.26*** Difference 1.46*** Difference 1.38***
N = 50 N = 87 N = 47
Women not working Women 4.03 Women 2.38 Women 3.30
Partners 1.46 Partners 1.38 Partners 1.54
Difference 2.57*** Difference 1 Difference 1.75***
N = 35 N = 21 N = 81
Panel (B) Men and women's hours of housework during the second wave of COVID-19 by working arrangementb
Women working at the usual workplace Women 2.31 Women 2.92 Women 2.35
Partners 1.17 Partners 1.40 Partners 1.52
Difference 1.14*** Difference 1.52*** Difference 0.84**
N = 241 N = 25 N = 31
Women working from home Women 2.56 Women 2.82 Women 1.91
Partners 0.75 Partners 1.43 Partners 1.30
Difference 1.81*** Difference 1.39*** Difference 0.61**
N = 57 N = 44 N = 23
Women not working Women 2.53 Women 1 Women 2.68
Partners 1.04 Partners 3.37 Partners 1.43
Difference 1.49*** Difference −2.37 Difference 1.25***
N = 47 N = 8 N = 28
Panel (C) Men and women's hours of childcare during the first wave of COVID-19 by working arrangementc
Women working at the usual workplace Women 4.34 Women 2.5 Women 3.38
Partners 3.91 Partners 2.25 Partners 2.67
Difference 0.44 Difference 0.25 Difference 0.71*
N = 32 N = 8 N = 21
Women working from home Women 2.87 Women 5.91 Women 6.87
Partners 1.72 Partners 4.40 Partners 5.27
Difference 1.16** Difference 1.51* Difference 1.6***
N = 32 N = 57 N = 30
Women not working Women 8.23 Women 10.92 Women 6.65
Partners 3.46 Partners 7.15 Partners 4.74
Difference 4.77*** Difference 3.77** Difference 1.91***
N = 26 N = 13 N = 54
Panel (D) Men and women's hours of childcare during the second wave of COVID-19 by working arrangementd
Women working at the usual workplace Women 3.59 Women 4.56 Women 3,.3
Partners 2.18 Partners 3.44 Partners 3,.4
Difference 1.41*** Difference 1.12** Difference −0.1
N = 162 N = 16 N = 20
Women working from home Women 5.85 Women 5.86 Women 5
Partners 2.92 Partners 4.03 Partners 4.46
Difference 2.92*** Difference 1.83*** Difference 0.54
N = 39 N = 29 N = 13
Women not working Women 8.90 Women 13.2 Women 5.58
Partners 2.86 Partners 6.4 Partners 3.63
Difference 6.03*** Difference 6.8 Difference 0.98*
N = 29 N = 5 N = 19

Multivariate regression model of hours spent on helping children in distance learning by women and their partners during the first and second waves of COVID-19

(1) (2) (3) (4)
Hours spent on distance learning by women during the lockdown Hours spent on distance learning by partners during the lockdown Hours spent on distance learning by women during the second wave of COVID-19 Hours spent on distance learning by partners during the second wave of COVID-19
Women's age −0.003 (0.018) −0.026 (0.016) −0.038*** (0.015) −0.038*** (0.013)
Women having a degree −0.005 (0.247) 0.042 (0.221) −0.005 (0.203) 0.143 (0.175)
Having children aged 0–5 years −0.025 (0.317) −0.020 (0.284) −0.027 (0.258) −0.058 (0.223)
Having children aged 6–10 years 1.719*** (0.274) 0.511** (0.245) 0.705*** (0.223) 0.204 (0.192)
Centre 0.141 (0.315) 0.172 (0.282) −0.211 (0.258) −0.138 (0.222)
South 0.497* (0.278) 0.464* (0.249) 0.384* (0.230) 0.111 (0.198)
Women's hours of paid work 0.001 (0.009) 0.001 (0.008) −0.024*** −0.001 (0.008)
(0.009)
Women working from home −0.372 (0.321) −0.609** (0.287) −0.208 (0.250) −0.346 (0.215)
Women not working 0.224 (0.355) −0.632** (0.318) −0.648 (0.397) −0.444 (0.342)
Partner working from home 0.510 (0.317) 0.471* (0.284) 0.298 (0.293) 0.387 (0.252)
Partner not working 0.249 (0.282) 0.227 (0.253) 0.284 (0.281) 0.520** (0.242)
Constant 1.184 (0.994) 2.128** (0.890) 3.606*** (0.794) 2.538*** (0.684)
Observations 273 273 332 332
R-squared 0.179 0.083 0.117 0.075

Multivariate regression model of hours spent on housework by women and their partners during the first and second waves of COVID-19 (sample restricted to women with children)

(1) (2) (3) (4)
Hours spent on housework by women during the lockdown Hours spent on housework by partners during the lockdown Hours spent on housework by women during the second wave of COVID-19 Hours spent on housework by partners during the second wave of COVID-19
Women's age −0.005 (0.017) −0.016 (0.018) 0.017 (0.015) −0.024 (0.015)
Women having a degree 0.230 (0.238) 0.077 (0.245) −0.167 (0.201) −0.077 (0.206)
Having children aged 0–5 years 0.075 (0.306) 0.341 (0.315) –0.059 (0.257) −0.101 (0.262)
Having children age 6–10 years −0.038 (0.264) 0.276 (0.272) 0.198 (0.221) −0.076 (0.226)
Centre −0.130 (0.304) −0.304 (0.313) 0.104 (0.256) 0.112 (0.262)
South 1.088*** (0.268) −0.215 (0.276) 0.791*** (0.228) 0.155 (0.233)
Women's hours of paid work 0.003 (0.008) −0.001 (0.009) −0.015 (0.009) 0.006 (0.009)
Women working from home 0.152 (0.310) −0.590* (0.319) 0.249 (0.248) −0.316 (0.253)
Women not working 0.694** (0.343) −0.532 (0.353) −0.225 (0.394) 0.032 (0.403)
Partner working from home −0.243 (0.306) −0.027 (0.315) 0.367 (0.291) 0.775*** (0.297)
Partner not working −0.388 (0.272) −0.207 (0.280) −0.182 (0.279) 0.554* (0.285)
Constant 2.878*** (0.959) 2.786*** (0.987) 1.917** (0.788) 2.103*** (0.805)
Observations 273 273 332 332
R-squared 0.103 0.050 0.069 0.036

Descriptive statistics

First wave of COVID-19 Second wave of COVID-19
Mean Std. Dev. Min Max Mean Std. Dev. Min Max
Panel (A) Women cohabiting with a partner during the first and second waves of COVID-19a
Age 44.79 9.12 26 64 45.04 9.22 26 65
Have a degree 0.48 0.50 0 1 0.44 0.50 0 1
North 0.57 0.50 0 1 0.56 0.50 0 1
Centre 0.19 0.39 0 1 0.19 0.39 0 1
South 0.24 0.43 0 1 0.25 0.43 0 1
Have children 0.67 0.47 0 1 0.66 0.47 0 1
Have children aged 0–5 years 0.20 0.40 0 1 0.20 0.40 0 1
Have children aged 6–10 years 0.21 0.41 0 1 0.21 0.41 0 1
Women's hours of paid work 22.89 15.75 0 50 25.21 15.50 0 50
Working at the usual workplace 0.21 0.41 0 1 0.59 0.49 0 1
Working from home 0.45 0.50 0 1 0.25 0.43 0 1
Not working or other 0.34 0.47 0 1 0.16 0.37 0 1
Panel (B) Women with children cohabiting with a partner during the first and second waves of COVID-19b
Age 45.60 8.57 26 64 45.50 8.63 26 64
Have a degree 0.49 0.50 0 1 0.46 0.50 0 1
North 0.55 0.50 0 1 0.54 0.50 0 1
Centre 0.18 0.38 0 1 0.19 0.39 0 1
South 0.27 0.44 0 1 0.27 0.45 0 1
Have children aged 0–5 years 0.30 0.46 0 1 0.30 0.46 0 1
Have children aged 6–10 years 0.31 0.46 0 1 0.33 0.47 0 1
Women's hours of paid work 22.53 15.29 0 50 24.61 15.05 0 50
Working at the usual workplace 0.22 0.42 0 1 0.60 0.49 0 1
Working from home 0.44 0.50 0 1 0.24 0.43 0 1
Not working or other 0.34 0.47 0 1 0.16 0.37 0 1

Multivariate regression model of hours spent on housework by women and their partners during the first and second waves of COVID-19

(1) (2) (3) (4)
Hours spent on housework by women during the lockdown Hours spent on housework by partners during the lockdown Hours spent on housework by women during the second wave of COVID-19 Hours spent on housework by partners during the second wave of COVID-19
Women's age 0.001 (0.011) −0.032*** (0.012) 0.009 (0.009) −0.026*** (0.009)
Women having a degree 0.085 (0.189) 0.144 (0.196) −0.129 (0.155) −0.041 (0.157)
Women having children 0.428* (0.233) 0.000 (0.242) 0.404** (0.185) 0.254 (0.188)
Having children aged 0–5 years 0.178 (0.268) 0.167 (0.278) −0.138 (0.218) −0.142 (0.221)
Having children aged 6–10 years 0.041 (0.245) 0.188 (0.255) 0.160 (0.200) −0.074 (0.203)
Centre −0.047 (0.235) −0.010 (0.244) −0.043 (0.196) 0.162 (0.198)
South 1.135*** (0.221) 0.045 (0.229) 0.875*** (0.178) 0.304* (0.181)
Women's hours of paid work 0.002 (0.007) −0.004 (0.007) −0.014** (0.007) 0.005 (0.007)
Women working from home 0.045 (0.247) −0.418 (0.256) 0.040 (0.190) −0.350* (0.193)
Women not working 0.583** (0.280) −0.507* (0.291) −0.297 (0.300) 0.168 (0.304)
Partner working from home −0.297 (0.238) −0.043 (0.247) 0.285 (0.221) 0.707*** (0.224)
Partner not working −0.198 (0.221) −0.048 (0.229) −0.202 (0.212) 0.469** (0.215)
Constant 2.209*** (0.614) 3.351*** (0.637) 1.976*** (0.490) 1.917*** (0.497)
Observations 405 405 504 504
R-squared 0.115 0.047 0.092 0.047
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