March 29, 2024
A Spectrum News 1 article recently highlighted a Department of Education study that highlighted gender disparities in education-related child care responsibilities during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study was co-authored by Ran Liu., Assistant Professor, Faculty of Educational Policy, and doctoral student, Shiyun Gan, Faculty of Educational Policy. They found that women took on more education-related childcare responsibilities than men during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the disparity was even more pronounced for some low-income women. has become even more prominent.
Liu said the findings demonstrate the need for additional government policies aimed at supporting women, especially those from low-income families, in the event of large-scale child care and school closures. He said that
“Our analysis provides further evidence that the additional burden of child home education during the pandemic has been carried almost entirely by women,” Liu said in the Spectrum News 1 article. “This gender divide can significantly limit women's employment opportunities and exacerbate household and labor market inequalities.”
The study, published in the journal Sociology, found that in 2020, men spent less time each day helping their children with education-related activities, such as virtual school, homework, and school projects compared to the previous year. It has been found. For the woman, her daily detention time was more than double. The increase in hours was even steeper for low-income women living in areas where child care facilities were widely closed during the pandemic.
Spectrum News 1 is a statewide cable news network. Read the full article on Spectrum News 1 here.