Gender and telework: Work and family experiences of teleworking professional, middle-class, married women with children during the Covid-19 pandemic in Turkey

This study focuses on the teleworking experiences of professional, middle-class, married women with children in Turkey in the context of Covid-19 pandemic. The aim of the study is to understand how switching to telework affected their family and work life during the Covid-19 lockdown. Semi-structured interviews were held during the lockdown measures with 18 women for this purpose. Interview questions include description of an ordinary day before and during pandemic; sharing of domestic chores by the spouses and teleworking experiences during the pandemic. A thematic analysis revealed how their work and family lives have been changed by Covid-19 lockdown. The study has revealed four major themes: women's domestic status during the pandemic, women's work status during the pandemic, status of the husband at home, and women's teleworking experiences. Findings revealed that teleworking regulations that have been implemented due to the pandemic have the risks of detaching women from professional work, precarizing their labor, and consolidating their roles as traditional housewives.

Automated summary

This study focuses on the teleworking experiences of professional, middle-class, married women with children in Turkey during the Covid-19 pandemic. Findings revealed that teleworking regulations implemented because of the pandemic may detach women from professional work, make their work more precarious, and reinforce their roles as traditional housewives.