Division of Labour and Parental Mental Health and Relationship Well-Being during COVID-19 Pandemic-Mandated Homeschooling

Mariam M. Elgendi; Sherry H. Stewart; Danika I. DesRoches; Penny Corkum; Raquel Nogueira-Arjona; S. Hélène Deacon

Division of Labour and Parental Mental Health and Relationship Well-Being during COVID-19 Pandemic-Mandated Homeschooling

2022

While the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way parents partition tasks between one another, it is not clear how these division of labour arrangements affect well-being. Pre-pandemic research offers two hypotheses: economic theory argues optimal outcomes result from partners specialising in different tasks, whereas psychological theory argues for a more equitable division of labour. The question of which approach optimizes well-being is more pressing in recent times, with COVID-19 school closures leaving many couples with the burden of homeschooling. It is unknown whether specialisation or equity confer more benefits for mandated homeschoolers, relative to non-homeschoolers or voluntary homeschoolers. Couples (n = 962) with children in grades 1&ndash:5 completed measures of workload division and parental well-being. A linear mixed modelling in the total sample revealed that specialisation, but not equity, promoted increased parental emotional and relationship well-being. These relations were moderated by schooling status: voluntary homeschoolers&rsquo: well-being benefitted from specialisation, whereas mandated homeschoolers&rsquo: well-being did not benefit from either strategy: non-homeschoolers well-being benefitted from both strategies. Across the mixed-gender couples, mothers&rsquo: and fathers&rsquo: well-being both benefitted from specialisation: equity was only beneficial for mothers&rsquo: well-being. Overall, couples might be advised to adopt highly equitable and specialised arrangements to promote both parents&rsquo: well-being.

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