While the pandemic led to a drastic rise in psychological distress across all ages, genders and communities, women were found to be the more distressed group, followed by the elderly and the young. From household chores, to caring for children, and managing their work, all of it together took a major toll on their well being during the pandemic. A quick sample survey revealed that women were spending more time doing unpaid work than their paid work, leaving an impact on their work life simply because the household responsibilities were in most cases not fully divided. This happens because social norms have lent the role of performing care to a woman since the arrangement is “who gets paid less and who has the flexibility?”
When women work from home, their personal space disappears and their workload increases manifold. No words can overstate the exhaustion, anxiety, and fear that women had to undergo to care for their families and also stay on their jobs during the pandemic. Working women with young children bore the maximum brunt. Look around you and you will see that working women in comparison to their male partners do more housework and get to have less leisure time.
