Unpaid Work and Care During COVID-19: Subjective Experiences of Same-Sex Couples and Single Mothers in Australia

This paper draws on data from Work and Care During COVID-19, an online survey of Australians during pandemic lockdown in May 2020 (n = 2,722). It focuses on how subsamples of lesbian, gay, and bisexual mothers and fathers in couples (n = 280) and single mothers (n = 480) subjectively experienced unpaid work and care during lockdown compared with heterosexual mothers and fathers in couples, and with partnered mothers, respectively. During the pandemic, nonheterosexual fathers' subjective reports were less negative than those of their heterosexual counterparts, but differences between heterosexual and lesbian/bisexual mothers were more mixed. Unlike their partnered counterparts, more single mothers reported feeling satisfied than before with their balance of paid and unpaid work and how they spent their time overall during the pandemic, perhaps because they avoided partnership conflicts and particularly benefited from relaxed commuting and child care deadlines.

Automated summary

This study found that during the pandemic, nonheterosexual fathers had more positive subjective experiences with unpaid work and care compared to heterosexual fathers, while differences between heterosexual mothers and lesbian/bisexual mothers were more complex. Single mothers reported feeling more satisfied with their balance of work and life during the pandemic compared to their partnered counterparts, potentially due to avoiding partner conflicts and benefiting from relaxed commuting and child care deadlines.