Women’s domestic multitasking: the phenomenon of feminization of unpaid work in Polish households during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

This study aims to present the concept of the feminization of unpaid work. We offer a conceptualization of this phenomenon based on the literature review and analysis of the experiences of Polish parents during COVID-19 pandemic. The feminization of unpaid work has cultural, economic, social, and institutional sources and manifests in women’s domestic multitasking, which means constant and routine responsibility for domestic and family duties. Its consequences are mainly visible in the precarious position of women in the public sphere but also in women’s poor psycho-physical conditions. The feminization of unpaid work should be seen as a set of interdependent processes that reinforces gender inequalities in the domestic and public spheres, especially in times of crisis. The analysis is based on qualitative material gathered through two nationwide diary writing contests in Poland during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. The experiences of Polish parents who wrote diaries during the COVID-19 pandemic help to understand the differences between men’s and women’s situations in times of crisis by extracting from their diary narratives the key processes that form the field of the feminization process of unpaid domestic work.

KEYWORDS:

• Feminization
• domestic work
• care work
• COVID-19 pandemic
• Poland
• gender inequalities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In Poland, classes in nurseries, kindergartens and schools were suspended on 12 March 2020. The closure of nurseries and kindergartens lasted until 6 May, while remote learning in schools continued until the end of the school year in June 2020. During the second wave in autumn 2020, nurseries and kindergartens remained open to allow parents of young children to work. From 23 October, children from grade 4 onwards in primary school were covered by remote learning. The youngest children in grades 1 to 3 were included in remote learning from 9 November. Remote education continued in these grades until 18 January 2021, while it continued in the higher grades until May 2021.

2 The following code was used in denoting diary citations: W394 denotes a diary written by a woman (W) and found in the diary collection database under the number 394, whereas, the symbols W1 or W2 written in the code extension denote consecutive diary contests completed by the team (W1 – first wave, W2 – second wave). All names in the citations were removed.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Narodowe Centrum Nauki [grant number 2020/39/B/HS5/03121].