"It's business as usual, and that's what I find really challenging. However, many participants were frustrated by the tokenism of these efforts that didn’t alleviate pressure. As one mother explained: These included systems to account for the impacts of COVID-19 on productivity, and workplaces leading candid conversations about the challenges facing working parents and the support that was available. Participants also described a range of workplace responses that helped them. I just find that's the only way I can get things done." "So, usually, I'm getting up at three, because between three and, I guess, seven is the only time I have where there's no one talking to me. Yet, whether working part-time or full-time, all participants described exhausting schedules, with paid work undertaken in combination with care throughout the day, and when children were asleep. Several participants described having to use their annual leave despite having ample carer’s leave, which placed considerable stress on families.
"It’s been a bit stressful for my son, and especially for the girls, as well, I think, because they can see that we’re home and we’re, basically, ignoring them." Fulfilling paid work duties in lockdownĮnabled by flexible workloads and supportive workplaces, many participants (mostly women) had reduced their fractions to care for children, especially families with very young children. We’re there but we’re unavailable to him, so it’s like the worst of both worlds." "It’s kind of weirdly alienating because you’re sort of there and yet not there, which I think is part of what has really struggled with. As one mum, whose son had been having "massive tantrums" and was "very withdrawn", explained: I found myself being really short with them."īeing in the same space as children yet unable to meet their needs was also a major difficulty. And then juggling the emotions of our kids. "Just getting the headspace to think things through when you’re not really tired was really hard. "I’ve got guilt up the wazoo, about how everything’s working, basically."
Guilt about not parenting or working well enough was common. The hardest things that participants described about lockdown were coping with the emotional realities of work and care. These findings are highly relevant to how the second lockdown in Victoria (and potentially beyond) should be managed. The data also illustrates how different approaches among workplaces and schools has made the reality of life in lockdown either easier or harder for families, depending on the specific approaches adopted. Interview data from that study provides highly personal insights into the emotional toll lockdown has taken on many families. I recently undertook a qualitative study interviewing working mums and dads about their experiences during Australia’s first lockdown. However, understanding the unique psycho-social and emotional pressures that working parents currently face in attempting to manage competing work pressures and family obligations is critical to minimising the damaging impacts of lockdown on workers and children. And so, with 780,000 job losses across Australia, bemoaning the difficulties of life with employment may seem selfish at best. Isolation and the damaging impacts of COVID-19 affect everyone, and are widening social inequalities. As many Victorians go into a second period of lockdown with a return to remote learning for students from prep to Year 10, working parents are bracing for another period where conflicting paid-work and care-work demands must somehow be managed.
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