Work-life balance and parental coping patterns during home schooling as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns: empirical evidence from Bulgaria

ABSTRACT

The main focus of this article is to shed light on the challenges to the work-life balance (WLB) caused by school closures due to lockdowns in Bulgaria. Both paid and unpaid jobs occur intensively in the family environment due to anti-epidemic measures of physical distancing. School closures introduce a novel element of unpaid work: intensive parental participation in the educational process during distance schooling, which requires additional competencies, time and effort, as well as the need to reconcile work with these new obligations. The analysis is based on original CAWI pseudo-longitudinal surveys, conducted during the first (April-May 2020) and second lockdowns (November-December 2020) in Bulgaria, as well as data on changes in personal contacts with family and friends, help given and received, personal care given and received from SHARE Survey, Wave 8 COVID-19 Survey 1 (July-August 2020). Terminological distinction is made between online and distance learning, because the pressures on parents vary. A push-pull model is elaborated, which could influence coping patterns when children are in home schooling due to lockdowns. The main coping pattern observed is that families were better prepared for the second lockdown, because by this time they had grandparents living in the same household.

KEYWORDS:

• Work-life balance
• Covid-19
• original covid CAWI
• Bulgaria
• SHARE

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic is a complex multifaceted crisis with global coverage and multidimensional local variations. The complexity of crisis management planning stems on the one hand from the high variability of mutations of the causative agent, and on the other – the complexity of social reactions, cultural and economic specifics and socio – demographic patterns in crisis response. Epidemics accompany human development, but the COVID-19 crisis is specific at least because of the wide variation between countries (Zinn 2021). The analysis of such a complex phenomenon is a methodological challenge for sociology, because its effects on population and economy, inter-mediated through governmental measures (e.g. physical distance, school closures) are part of inter-actions (inter-relations), also playing part in trans-actions within socio-economic, health and demographic elements of the whole wicked problem (Selg, Klasche, and Nõgisto 2022; Auld et al. 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic is a case study of a “wicked,” “super-wicked,” or “black swan” (Taleb 2007) phenomena. The formative elements of this crisis must be considered and analysed independently, in line with their inter-relation to each other. For example, the requirements for physical distancing and school closures as anti-epidemic measures affect the work-life balance on the one hand, family social ties on the other, as well as the economy and the physical and mental health of children, parents, grandparents and teachers. Adult Bulgarians traditionally maintain a close relationship with their parents (Tosheva 2021), and the first lockdown disturbed their regular face-to-face social ties. Research provides evidence that face-to-face social networks can moderate the negative impacts of COVID-19 on important aspects of mental health (Litwin and Levinsky 2021).

This contribution aims to highlight changes in the WLB of parents during the lockdowns in Bulgaria, arguing that the lack of a targeted public policy indirectly strengthens family efforts in the short term, but disturbs the work-life balance in the longer term (between the first and second pandemic waves).

From December 2019 onwards the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic changed everyday life by means of physical and social distancing, school closures and various novel restrictions imposed by governments. Lockdown measures forced many people to start working from home and for some this was a first-time experience (Sostero et al. 2020). The gap between the anti-epidemic measures and families’ coping resources appeared to be deepening. However, even simple restrictions and changes to the individual’s daily routine can lead to unexpected results, and the way people respond to anti-epidemic or recovery measures depends on family composition (Fisher et al. 2020).

The COVID-19 outbreak and the associated wicked crisis proceed differently at country level. Both the pandemic (Table 1) and the political response (Table 2) vary between countries. For example, according to the Stringency Index¹ Bulgaria has one of the lightest non-pharmaceutical reactions to the pandemic, compared to neighbouring EU member states Greece and Romania (Hale et al. 2021). The second lockdown (November 2020) was significantly lighter than the first (March-April 2020).

Table 1. Covid-19 outbreak development by country.

	Daily confirmed COVID-19 cases per million inhabitants		Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people
Country	13 April 2020	23 November 2020	13 April 2020	23 November 2020
Bulgaria	2.8	476.9	0.21	16.18
Greece	5.34	227.56	0.27	7.53
Romania	19.13	428.03	1.15	8.18

Source: Roser et al. (2020).

Table 2. Stringency index by country.

Stringency Index (0–100)	Bulgaria	Greece	Romania
March-April 2020	71.3	84.26	87.04
November-December 2020	48.15	78.7	76.85
Difference 1^st − 2^nd Lockdown	−23.15	−5.56	−10.19

Source: Hale et al. (2021).

The first case of COVID-19 infection in Bulgaria was registered on 8^th of March 2020. On 13^th of March 2020 the government introduced a State of Emergency for the whole country at first for a period of a month, later extended until 13^th of May 2020. Schools were already closed from 11^th of March due to influenza and remained closed for the duration of the school year until June 2020. The school year 2020/2021 started with plans for local closures only, but all educational institutions were closed again on 30^th of November 2020. The second (partial) lockdown was introduced from 27^th of November 2020 to 20^th of December 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a source of significant pressure on Bulgarian families during the first and second wave. The level of preparedness for this type of crisis depends on various aspects of socio-economic development. Bulgaria, for example, has one of the highest rates of socio-economic and educational inequality (Ilieva-Trichkova and Boyadjieva 2018), the smallest share of remote working population in EU, access to the Internet in the household and the level of education of parents. The pressure on parents due to their involvement in distance schooling is also related to the number of children and distribution of gender roles within the household (Table 3).

Table 3. Socio-economic indicators, Bulgaria compared to EU.

	EU^2	Bulgaria
Household composition
Households by number of children (2019)
1 child	47.4%	57.1%
2 children	39.9%	36.8%
3 children or more	12.7%	6.2%
Distribution of 0–17 year old children by educational attainment level of their parents
Parents with an ISCED 0–2 attainment (2018)	12.9	24.2
Parents with an ISCED 5–8 attainment (2018)	47.2	36.6
Social inclusion and risk of poverty
At-risk-of-poverty rate (2018)	16.8%	22.0%
Share of the total population at risk of poverty or social exclusion (2018)	21.8%	32.8%
Employment
Employment (as % of the population aged 20 to 64) (2019)	73.1%	75.0%
Share of employed persons (15–64), usually working from home 2019	5.4%	0.5%
Internet access
Share of households with broadband use (2019)	88.0%	75.0%
WLB
Gender Equality Index (0–100)	67.9	59.6

Source: Eurostat (2020a); Eurostat (2020b); Eurostat (2020c); Eurostat (2020d); EIGE (2020); Farrugia et al. (2020).

Governments introduced various non-pharmaceutical measures to limit the spread of Covid-19. School closures as an anti-epidemic measure have been critically commented (Kluge 2020). Schools were closed at all levels in Bulgaria, Greece and Romania during the first lockdown, whereas they were only closed for certain groups of students during the second one (Hale et al. 2021).³

The COVID-19 pandemic has shed a new perspective on the work-life balance. During lockdowns the home takes on numerous new functions: nursery, kindergarten or school, multiple remote workplaces, playground, sports facility, outpatient clinic and family shelter (Zsuzsa 2020; Doling and Arundel 2020). Parents have also been forced to adopt new social roles – they have become co-students and teachers of their own children (Yordanova 2021). Research indicates that the increase in domestic and care work during the pandemic is higher for women than men. The majority of mothers working from home reported an increased workload as compared to fathers (Bianchi et al. 2022).

Distant, online and hybrid schooling were introduced by the Bulgarian educational system immediately after the first lockdown in Bulgaria (March 2020) for all students from preschool to 12^th grade. The three forms of schooling need more precise distinction within the Bulgarian context, especially the term “distance learning” which is not usually differentiated terminologically from online schooling. In Bulgaria, online learning takes place via various online platforms, where the child attends school classes and follows the weekly curriculum. Assignments in distance learning are sent to students and returned to teachers via IT applications and social media (Facebook group, Messenger, Viber, email). With distance learning the teacher has little participation in the learning process and the teacher is replaced by parents. The transition to distance learning has been observed and evaluated by policymakers in Bulgaria as an indicator of great progress in the education system (Hristova, Petrova, and Papazova 2020). It raises, however, the question: what happens to parents’ work-life balance when their children are distance learning?

It seems likely that school closures have a larger negative impact on Bulgarian families and parents than those in other countries. Various empirical studies on remote schooling have been conducted among principals, teachers and pupils (Unicef 2021; Hristova, Petrova, and Papazova 2020). However, there are blind spots in research into the burden on parents and their WLB because of the focus of interest on the content, change and digitalization of the learning process.

This paper addresses the following research questions within the Bulgarian context, which we believe might enrich the general debate about work-life balance in times of crisis:

RQ1: What are the effects of distance learning on the work-life balance of parents in case of lockdowns, and school closure in particular?

QR2: Do the coping patterns of families due to distance learning change between the first and second lockdown, and if so, how?

QR3: What are the main push-pull factors for family adaptation in case of a lockdown?

Research on WLB, child care and family issues in Eastern European countries is rather limited (Robila 2004; Szelewa and Polakowski 2008; Kovács 2016). Our analysis contributes to the enrichment of research on child care provided by grandparents, since the countries from Central and Eastern Europe have not been included in earlier comparative research (Jappens and Van Bavel 2012). Achieving WLB depends on support received not only from the spouse and/or institution, but from relatives (grandparents mainly), friends or paid domestic help (Abendroth and den Dulk 2011). Bulgaria is characterized by traditional gender norms and a clear gendered division of housework (Boye 2011). In addition, the most typical model in the country includes arrangements by which grandparents provide regular informal child care when parents are away from home for work or other activities.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has also been characterized as a “care crisis” (Ruppanner, Churchill, and Scarborough 2020). Remote working from home engenders work-family conflict due to the conservative labour culture in Bulgaria and teleworkers in particular claim low support by family members in the distribution of housework while working from home (Yordanova 2020). The work-family conflict is even more challenging for families with child/children under 12 years of age (Zsuzsa 2020; Eurofound 2020). However, during lockdown restrictions both paid and unpaid work take place intensively within the family environment without external support because of physical distance restrictions and school closure.

Materials and methods

The analysis of WLB in times of lockdowns is based on three data sets (Covid CAWI-1, Covid CAWI-2, SHARE COVID-19 Survey-1) providing high quality survey information about the main social inter-actors of interest: parents and grandparents. We designed and conducted a CAWI⁴ pseudo-longitudinal survey “The impact of anti-epidemic measures due to the pandemic of COVID-19 in Bulgaria” (Covid-CAWI)⁵ on the individual attitudes, perceptions and coping strategies of Bulgarians towards school closure in order to fill the gap of data from other surveys. Collection and production of data from this author’s pseudo-longitudinal Covid-CAWI survey meets the ethical and professional standards of conducting sociological research, authorized by both the Ethical Committee of the Bulgarian Sociological Association and the Scientific Council of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Covid-CAWI survey meets the CHERRIES standards (Eysenbach 2004). The large-scale international panel SHARE⁶ (Börsch-Supan et al. 2013), adapted its methodology and a special COVID-19 module (CATI⁷) has been created in response to the Corona crisis (Börsch-Supan 2022).

The primary goal of the original Covid-CAWI survey was to provide unique knowledge about attitudes and individual coping strategies towards first-time experience of lockdowns and pandemic effects in Bulgaria. The second lockdown required this primary goal to be further elaborated with temporal comparative perspective between the first and second waves of the pandemic and the respective measures in force. The analysis of the pandemic effects on parents when children are in home schooling is based on survey data conducted in two context-sensitive waves. The survey is designed to measure the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, emergency measures introduced, and school closures in particular. The Covid CAWI-1 (April-May 2020, N = 1192, 18+) was collected during the Bulgarian state of emergency in the first lockdown. The survey was completed using Google forms due to the urgent need for social research, complete suspension of face-to-face fieldwork and lack of resources. The Covid-CAWI-2 (November-December 2020, N = 2079, 18+), coinciding with the period of the second lockdown, was programmed and completed via the SurveyMonkey platform. The Covid-CAWI survey could be defined as pseudo-longitudinal (Caruana et al. 2015; Yee and Niemeier 1996; Markova 2021), using repeated cross-sectional design. Data collection was carried out by computer-assisted web interview (CAWI), disseminated through a specially designed selection matrix, which covers 26 Facebook groups with more than 580,000 potential respondents. In line with Facebook interventions, the survey was disseminated through institutional websites, personal profiles and a forum with more than 1 million potential respondents. Data from both nonprobability samples is weighted through a post-stratified procedure⁸ (gender, age, education and settlement type) for individuals regularly using the internet in Bulgaria (NSI 2019; Markova, Yordanova, and Tosheva 2023).

The general samples of interest are further limited to parents of three groups of school age children – up to and including primary, secondary, children in both groups (CAWI 1 n = 427; CAWI 2 n = 484). Analysis includes the following variables: number of employed in household, employment status of respondent; place of work for respondent and spouse: home, both home and office, office; household composition – presence of dependents (retired, children); overtime work in lockdown; sharing family activities; help received when working and home schooling; three types of pandemic schooling: distance, online, hybrid; subjective self-evaluation of fatigue, stress, anxiety, sleeping problems; subjective self-evaluation of work-life balance (WLB); sex, age, education, subjective self-identification of personal income compared to the average income in Bulgaria. The WLB measurement is based on an assessment of personal satisfaction with the achieved balance (Valcour 2007).

We enrich the contextual data analysis on the relations between grandparents and parents as well as analyses of WLB on Covid CAWI pseudo-longitudinal data sets with data on social networks (changes in personal contacts with family, help given and received, personal care given and received), derived from Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), Wave 8, COVID-19 Survey-1 (Bergmann and Börsch-Supan 2021). Bulgarian fieldwork on SHARE COVID-19 Survey-1 was carried out between 2^nd of July– 14^th of August 2020 (n = 879, 50+).

From the SHARE general sample we execute the following pre-selection: 1) co-resident adults with their parents are excluded from the sample. It is assumed that when grandparents and their adult children live together, the grandparents could usually provide daily help in raising and caring for grandchildren. From the general sample we further select 2) respondents who have grandchildren, as well as 3) those whose adult children live up to 25 kilometres away, but not in the same household. The subsample of interest includes 233 individuals. The analysis is based on calibrated cross-sectional individual weighted data (Bergmann and Börsch-Supan 2021). Outcome variables of interest are: physical and electronic contact frequency with own children since outbreak; helping others to obtain necessities since the outbreak and amount of help given to own children; personal care provided outside home since the outbreak and amount of personal care given to own children; help received to obtain necessities since the outbreak and amount of help received from own children; self-reported feelings of: nervousness, depression, trouble sleeping and loneliness.

The three data sets are analysed with SPSS – version 26.0 using descriptive statistics and comparative analysis.

Results

Effects of distance learning on work-life balance of parents in case of lockdown

As part of the anti-epidemic measures within the first lockdown in Bulgaria it was widely reported officially⁹ and in the media¹⁰ that children should not visit their grandparents because of the danger of infecting them with Covid-19. Alerts from various countries (including the United States, Switzerland, Austria) that children can spread the disease were taken into account in Bulgaria as well. The population was advised that contact with children should be limited or generally avoided, especially for grandparents. Dissemination of this information was worrying not only for children but also for adults. As a result, physical contact between grandparents and their children and grandchildren was significantly reduced, at the expense of electronic communication.

During the first lockdown elderly parents were isolated, living separately from their children and grandchildren. The middle generation was squeezed by the double pressure of needing to provide care both for their children, and for their elderly parents. In addition, working and taking care for children at home had to be combined with an increased amount of care for their own parents (shopping, food preparation, medications) (Table 4).

Table 4. Descriptive statistics SHARE COVID-19 survey 1.

	Bulgaria (n=233)
Gender
Male	30.2%
Female	69.8%
Age group
50–59	21.8%
60–69	29.7%
70–79	29.4%
80 and more	19.1%
Contact frequency with own children since outbreak
Daily	43.4%
Less often	19.9%
Electronic contact frequency with own children since outbreak
Daily	52.8%
Less often	5.9%
Helped others to obtain necessities since outbreak
Yes	15.3%
Amount helped own children since outbreak to obtain necessities
About the same	55.2%
Less often	15.0%
Provided personal care outside home since outbreak
Yes	4.4%
Amount of personal care provided to own children since outbreak
About the same	34.5%
Helped received to obtain necessities since outbreak
Yes	36.0%
Amount of help received from own children to obtain necessities since outbreak
About the same	57.9%
More often	32.5%
Nervous since outbreak
About the same	44.6%
More so	53.2%
Depressed since outbreak
About the same	35.5%
More so	60.2%
Trouble sleeping since outbreak
About the same	64.4%
More so	32.5%
Lonely since outbreak
About the same	67.8%
More so	30.1%

Source: SHARE Wave 8 COVID-19 Survey 1, Release version: 0.0.1 beta. (SHARE Wave 8, 2020)

The Bulgarian model of informal care means that grandparents make a significant contribution towards child care. SHARE data indicates indirectly that when isolated due to lockdown, grandparents report a lack of physical contact with grandchildren and this could contribute to increased levels of nervousness, depression, trouble sleeping and loneliness. Another probable reason for increased anxiety and depression could be the fear of being infected by Covid-19.

Covid CAWI-1 data provides evidences that remote work has a positive effect on WLB among the following sub-groups of respondents: parents of children in the higher age group (5^th to 12^th grade); children in online and distance schooling; help received from partner/spouse; in a family that supports distant working; where both parents could combine home and office work. When grandparents start to live in the household during the second lockdown, they provide more help for children, thus respondents achieve better WLB (Table 5). When living in the same household, grandparents improve the WLB of parents of younger children (0 months − 4^th grade).

Table 5. Work-life balance, Covid CAWI-1 and Covid CAWI-2.

	Covid CAWI-1 (n=427)	Covid CAWI-2 (n=484)
Distance working improves WLB and family –fully and rather supports
With child/en in secondary school (5^th − 12^th grade)	87.3%	63.5%
Online, organised by school through platform, following the weekly schedule	81.1%	55.1%
Distance education	84.1%	44.4%
Family members support distant working	79.8%	72.0%
Both parents could combine home and office work	97.4%	65.5%
Presence of grandparents in the household	65.6%	91.8%

Source: computed by authors.

Coping patterns of families between first and second lockdown due to distance schooling

There is clear evidence that families face various economic difficulties between both lockdowns. The group of respondents with a personal average monthly income below the country average increases by 26.4 pp (Table 6) as well as the number of unemployed (8.3 pp). Overtime work decreases (15.9 pp) from first to second lockdown, demonstrating the adaptation of work organization. More families live with pensioners during the second lockdown (22.8 pp); more childcare help is received from grandparents (16.9 pp) and partners/spouses (6.7 pp). While 32% of respondents reported receiving external help from friends/paid childcare during the first lockdown, there is a significant drop in such help received during the second (29.9 pp). Increased family support for childcare also leads to better leisure time during the second lockdown, and thus – better WLB achieved. Individual adaptation could be explained by reduced levels of anxiety, fear, general fatigue and uncertainty about the future. The impact of the pandemic is subjectively estimated as positive in terms of relationship with partner/spouse, children, parents, and negative in terms of the individual mental state. However, the pandemic’s prolonged development exacerbates feelings of loneliness, boredom and sleeping problems.

Table 6. Descriptive statistics Covid CAWI-1 and Covid CAWI-2.

	CAWI 1	CAWI 2
Number of Parents (n)	(n=427)	(n=484)
With child/en up to primary (0 months − 4^th grade)	37.0%	60.7%
With child/en in secondary school (5^th − 12^th grade)	44.8%	29.9%
With more than 1 child from primary to secondary school (0 months-12^th grade)	18.2%	9.5%
Gender
Male	54.6%	47.0%
Female	45.4%	53.0%
Age
18–29	19.2%	8.8%
30–39	34.2%	29.2%
40–49	27.4%	50.6%
50+	19.2%	11.4%
Education
Tertiary	53.1%	43.3%
Secondary	46.9%	56.7%
Subjective financial self-assessment
Below country average	31.6%	58.0%
Around country average (2500 BGN/1278 EUR)	42.6%	29.4%
Above country average	25.8%	12.5%
Marital status
Married	71.1%	46.8%
In a partnership	20.5%	19.0%
Single (divorced)	6.9%	32.5%
Widowed	1.6%	1.7%
Household composition
Living with retired	13.3%	36.1%
Employment
Employed (self-employed)	86.5%	78.2%
Unemployed	13.5%	21.8%
Number of employed in Household
None	1.8%	2.0%
One employed	36.7%	30.4%
Two or more employed	61.5%	67.6%
Overtime work in lockdown – among employed
Yes	41.6%	25.7%
No	58.4%	74.3%
Help with childcare – among employed
Receive helps	62.4%	79.9%
Does not receive help	37.6%	20.1%
Who is helping with childcare while working? – among employed, receiving help
Partner/spouse	57.7%	64.4%
Parents (grandparents)	9.7%	26.6%
Older child/ren	32.0%	6.9%
Other (Friends/Paid childcare (babysitter, minder)	0.6%	2.1%
Do you personally manage to fulfill your work commitments normally while helping your children’s learning process?– among employed
Rather yes	43.2%	42.1%
Rather no	40.0%	29.1%
I don’t provide any help	16.8	28.8%
Sharing family responsibilities
Personal care (incl. physiological needs) for child/ren (n=427) (n=484)
I, personally	31.5%	62.6%
Other HH member	21.6%	7.1%
Shared responsibility	46.9%	30.3%
Care for parents/relatives (shopping, cooking, cleaning) (n=305) (n=297)
I, personally	44.1%	55.8%
Other HH member	20.2%	14.6%
Shared responsibility	35.7%	29.6%
Shopping for own HH (n=427) (n=479)
I, personally	31.7%	55.8%
Other HH member	23.5%	6.5%
Shared responsibility	44.8%	37.7%
Cooking for own HH (n=426) (n=482)
I, personally	40.1%	62.2%
Other HH member	32.4%	10.4%
Shared responsibility	27.5%	27.3%
Domestic cleaning (n=421) (n=482)
I, personally	37.2%	59.3%
Other HH member	27.8%	7.8%
Shared responsibility	35.0%	32.9%
Help with distant schooling of child/ren (n=379) (n=322)
I, personally	39.4%	50.6%
Other HH member	28.9%	12.8%
Shared responsibility	31.7%	36.6%
Education organization
Online, organised by school through platform, following the weekly schedule	40.4%	79.9%
Distance education	35.9%	22.2%
Hybrid (distance and online simultaneously)	20.7%	33.9%
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, how often do you experience: - “more often”
Anxiety	60.7%	58.3%
Fear	42.4%	26.2%
Loneliness	39.8%	50.8%
Fatigue	61.2%	29.9%
Boredom	50.7%	57.3%
Uncertainty about the future	82.8%	72.1%
Trouble sleeping	34.1%	53.6%
Impact of the pandemic on … - „sharply got worse“and „got worse“
Mental state (status)	43.2%	31.7%
Relationship with partner/spouse	9.9%	39.6%
Relationship with parents	4.3%	8.9%
Relationship with child/ren	6.7%	18.2%
Leisure time	41.1%	48.0%

Source: computed by authors.

The Covid CAWI-1 indicates that parents were under serious pressure during the first lockdown. The most vulnerable were parents with younger children (from 0 months to 5^th grade), due to the amount of care needed and the absence of external help. Parents were very busy with work, reporting an increase of overtime. Many were transitioning to teleworking for the first time and did not have established work and organizational skills for remote work. Along with the workload, parents had to manage their children’s online and distance schooling, as well as provide care for non-resident parents. With the sudden introduction of home-based learning, schools, teachers and parents were not sufficiently institutionally equipped with digital competencies, devices, internet connectivity, and the most common form of learning during the first lockdown was online and distance learning. Subsequently, during the second lockdown, the education system was better prepared and most students switched to an online form of learning where the role of parents was not so demanding. The overall evaluation is that distance/online learning is currently better organized during the second lockdown (81.6%).

An important finding is that families mobilize their informal resources between the first and second lockdown to absorb the increased need for child care, along with the workload and care of other not-resident family members. During the first lockdown, the spouse/partner and other children are more likely to be involved in childcare, and during the second lockdown these activities began to be shared with the partner and grandparents. The main coping pattern for Bulgarian parents, clearly visible during the second lockdown, is to start living with grandparents. The help received from grandparents and the increased involvement of the partner (in childcare) enabled parents to become more involved in family responsibilities (Table 6).

Push-pull factors for family adaptation in case of lockdown

The major change observed between the first and second lockdown in Bulgaria is related to the importance of adapting both the educational system and the household composition: less distance learning practices during the second lockdown, as well as the opportunity to receive external help from grandparents.

A “push-pull” model is used to illustrate the main influential direction of factors in family adaptation patterns to distance schooling due to the pandemic (Table 7). The push factors are defined as negative considerations, like workplace closure. Pull factors are typically positive consideration such as availability of previous experience to tackle with lockdown measures (Shultz, Morton, and Weckerle 1998). Both push and pull factors could be external and internal, in force at national (country) and family (household) level. Push factors influence the increased burden on parents due to lockdowns and pull factors positively affect family adaptation. State policy support is not included in the analysis because it was not introduced in either lockdown, but it should be taken into account in future research as a pull factor.

Table 7. Push-pull model for family adaptation to distance schooling due to the pandemic.

Factor types	Bulgaria 1 vs. 2 lockdown	External (country level)	Internal (family and household level)
Push factors (1^st lockdown)	Education environment	Distance and hybrid, less online forms of learning	Inside Household
	Measures in the country	Workplace closure	Working from home (if the profession allows)
	Preparedness for the crisis	State of emergency: no previous experience	No previous experience: high levels of fatigue, stress, anxiety, sleeping problems; impaired WLB
Pull Factors (2^nd lockdown)	Education environment	More online, more hybrid forms, less distance learning	Start living with adult parents, internal help
	Measures in the country	Recommended workplace closure	Possibilities for working from home; both home and office; office
	Preparedness for the crisis	Temporary anti-epidemic measures: availability of previous experience	Availability of experience: low levels of fatigue, stress, anxiety, sleeping problems; better WLB

Source: authors’ interpretation.

Empirical evidence for better adaptation to online education could be the following: less overtime work, more help received by parents (grandparents), less personal help needed for child/children’s home education and increased shared responsibilities between spouses in online schooling, reported within the second wave of the pandemic. Parents’ improved adaptation could also be explained by less reported fatigue compared to the first wave of Covid-19.

Parents did not receive any state support during the lockdowns in Bulgaria. If a parent had a child studying remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she/he had to take unpaid leave (Covid-19 portal 2021). These measures were introduced within the second lockdown, but were in force in 2021 (BNT 2020).

Discussion

In line with the current theoretical contributions we focus our analysis on empirical evidence of work-life balance transformation and coping patterns of Bulgarian parents in home schooling due to the first and second pandemic lockdowns. We examine how family composition affects work-life balance in online learning, for example, the presence in the household of a partner/spouse, opportunity to receive help from grandparents, and number of dependent members of the household. On the one hand, our results for the first lockdown are in line with previous research claiming that better-off families are more likely to have both parents accessing teleworking, increasing the family’s capacity to cope with home schooling thanks to a more equal distribution of unpaid care (Maestripieri 2021). On the other hand, during the second lockdown the survey results confirm that child care provided by grandparents is a key factor in improving WLB (Abendroth and den Dulk 2011). The informal child care model in Bulgaria and the role of grandparents in lockdowns is verified by SHARE, conducted during the first wave of the pandemic (Börsch-Supan 2022). Our analysis provides a precise distinction between online and distance learning practices in Bulgaria during the anti-pandemic school closures, because parental involvement varies significantly between these different types of remote education.

The analysis from Covid CAWI survey supports the conclusions that household chores and childcare duties were greatly increased for families who had to look after young children and help older ones engaged in distance learning (Del Boca et al. 2021). During the second lockdown, parents were already gaining experience and found ways to adapt to combine work with home schooling. Because of the measures, physical distancing and general fear of infection, elderly parents outside the household also required help and additional attention. The WLB improves during the second lockdown mainly because grandparents start to live with their children. Research claims that older adults’ level of intergenerational contact remained stable or even increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (Vergauwen et al. 2022). The Bulgarian survey data provides clear evidence that families welcomed their grandparents in order to be better prepared for the second lockdown and intergenerational contacts increased.

In addition to previous research about possible reasons for unpreparedness for distance learning (Sabatinelli and Pavolini 2021), in Bulgaria the main challenge is to combine work and remote schooling, with no or very little external help, especially when children are small, and grandparents live outside of the family and themselves need help. Our results confirm that multitasking, isolation and lack of previous experience with lockdowns affect emotional health, but we also observe the improvement of family ties.

The paper addresses the particular limitations of the Bulgarian support policy in line with lockdown measures targeted at parents. If a parent has a child studying remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she/he has to take unpaid leave.¹¹ State support can also be received when a person loses their job (where the individual is not entitled to unemployment benefits or the amount is lower than the minimum wage), or when a self-employed person is unable to work due to restrictive measures. The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy extended support to the most vulnerable groups of parents (ESPN 2020). However, a number of restrictions prevent the full range of parents in need from being covered, and the 375 BGN (192 EUR) one-off payment is not sufficient to meet the needs of these households. Conditions for granting the sum should be eased, and parents of more than one child should be provided with greater support. The Bulgarian government refused to grant additional compensatory leave to working parents forced to take their annual leave during the pandemic when kindergartens and schools were closed. As of 19^th of March 2021 41.738 families of children under the age of 14 had received assistance from the state after having to stay at home. Half a million pupils (in pre-primary education (ISCED-0) and primary education (I-IV grade, ISCED-1) received online schooling in 2020–2021 school year (NSI 2021), which raises the question whether the state aid was sufficient to cover all parents in need.

Limitations

The limitations of this paper are related to the fact that it only takes into account the work-life balance of individuals working fully or partly remotely, who have children and look after them. Participants in the original two waves of Covid CAWI were those with access to electronic devices and the Internet, educated to degree level, from higher income groups, living in large cities in Bulgaria. The reported obstacles and coping strategies could be expected to be deeper in less educated and more vulnerable subgroups. The article uses SHARE COVID-19 Survey-1 only, because it covers the first wave of the pandemic in Bulgaria at the same time Covid CAWI 1 and 2 were conducted. However, the social context in 2021, when SHARE COVID-19 Survey-2 was conducted, significantly differs from the period of the first and second lockdowns.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria under Grant D01-264/19.11.2021 within the National Roadmap for Research Infrastructures.

This paper uses data from SHARE Wave 8 (DOI: 10.6103/SHARE.w8.100, 10.6103/SHARE.w8ca.100), see Börsch-Supan (2022) for methodological details. The SHARE data collection has been funded by the European Commission, DG RTD through Horizon 2020 (SHARE-DEV3: GA N°676536, SHARE-COHESION: GA N°870628, SERISS: GA N°654221, SSHOC: GA N°823782) and by DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion through VS 2020/0313.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gabriela Yordanova

Gabriela Yordanova has a PhD in sociology and is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, in Bulgaria. She has a PhD in Sociology. Her research interests are knowledge society, time management and teleworking, platform work, WLB, industrial relations, ageing, life-long learning. Gabriela is involved in a number of international research projects, including Horizon 2020, exploring themes such as: overcoming early job insecurity and exclusion from the labour market; health, ageing and retirement; lifelong learning; digitalisation; platform economy. Since 2016 she is a country team operator of the international project SHARE. She is also a coordinator of the activities at IPS-BAS of the SHARE-ERIC Bulgaria project, funded by Ministry of Education and Science - Bulgaria within the National Roadmap for Research Infrastructures (2020-2027). Gabriela Yordanova is a member of the Bulgarian correspondent for Eurofound in Dublin (2014-2018; 2022-2026). She lectures at Plovdiv University Paisii Hilendarski. She is author of more than 30 articles and books. She won an award for Young Scientist in the field of sociology from the IPS-BAS for her last book: The Virtual Office: New Opportunities for the Work-Family Balance in the ICT Sector in Bulgaria, published in 2020.

Ekaterina Markova

Ekaterina Markova is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Philosophy and Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences since 2004. Her research interests are related to Survey Research Methodology, Policy Impact Measurement and Evaluation, Sociology of Labour, Vulnerability, Ageing, Social Change. Markova has long term experience in large EU research projects (BYOND4.0, WALQING). Ekaterina is member of the Bulgarian correspondent for Eurofound in Dublin (2014-2018; 2022-2026), working on labour-related topics such as working conditions, low quality jobs, digitalization of labour, vulnerable groups, discrimination. She has long-lasting experience in large-scale Survey research – International Comparative Panel Survey “The Impact of Coping Strategies and Social Capital on Reproductive and Marital Behaviour”, Max Plank Institute (2002, 2005-2006), Generations and Gender Programme, International Comparative Panel Survey “Generation and Gender Survey”, Max Planck Institute (2004-2005, 2007-2008). Since 2016, she is the country team leader of Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and coordinator of the national research infrastructure SHARE-ERIC Bulgaria. She is author and co-author of more than 35 scientific articles and monographs.

Notes

1. Stringency index provides measures on policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is composed of 20 indicators (Hale et al. 2021) and derives data for more than 180 countries. The Stringency index includes data about government response on lockdown measures (such as school closure), economic support and health system policies.

2. Data for 2018 is for EU-28, and for 2019 for EU-27.

3. Bulgaria has previous experience in school closure due to Influenza winter epidemics for many years, but without remote ongoing learning activities.

4. Computer Assisted Web Interview – CAWI.

5. The project won Most Significant Scientific and Applied Achievement Award of the IPS-BAS for 2020.

6. Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe – SHARE.

7. Computer Assisted Telephone Interview – CATI.

8. The weighting procedure is designed and implemented by Ekaterina Tosheva (Markova, Yordanova, and Tosheva 2023).

9. National information portal, available at: https://coronavirus.bg/bg/az-sum/dete.

10. Newspaper 24 chasa: https://www.24chasa.bg/novini/article/8520662; Newspaper Dnevnik: https://www.dnevnik.bg/sviat/2020/08/31/4108085_decata_mogat_da_raznasiat_koronavirusa_v_produljenie/comments?ref=sticky_header; Bulgarian National Television: https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=2533919236868012.

11. https://coronavirus.bg/bg/617 (in Bulgarian).