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

Figures & data

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).

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).

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)

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.

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.

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.

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