From public to private: the gendered impact of COVID-19 pandemic on work-life balance and work-family balance

Abstract

This paper explores the impact flexible and hybrid work has had on women who turned to work-from-home during three COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK. Based on 10 in-depth interviews with women living and working in East Midlands, UK, this study found that despite heightened care needs and the additional burdens women faced during the pandemic, one silver lining was that flexible and hybrid work has positively impacted some women. All women spoke about how the pandemic and associated restrictions have altered their conceptualisation of space in both positive and negative ways. Life during the pandemic gave participants extra care needs and added burdens, but it also gave them more space to be with family and to manage their lives more effectively. This sense of increased space for social and family bonding and life and time management was reduced after the pandemic due to the difficulties women had to bear (again) in balancing the demands of work and family obligations. As such, this paper attempts to demonstrate the need to think of innovative ways to support women’s flexible work both during the pandemic and in the long term.