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New Survey Shows Men Think They Do Most of the Homeschooling—Women Disagree

“Being forced to be at home is amplifying the differences we already know exist.”
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By Nehal Aggarwal, Editor
Updated May 11, 2020
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Homeschooling has been a task most parents never thought they would find themselves doing. Yet, the closing of schools across the country due to coronavirus has forced parents to face a new normal that involves 24/7 parenting and doubling as their children’s teachers. Now, according to a new poll by Morning Consult for The New York Times, the chore is unsurprisingly being handled mostly by women.

The survey looked at data from a group of 2,200 Americans, only asking those who lived with partners or children questions about housework and childcare. The survey found that almost half of men with kids under the age of 12 think they spend more time on homeschooling than their spouse. This is compared with 3 percent of women who say their spouse is indeed doing more than them and 8 percent of moms who feel their spouse is not.

While both men and women have been forced to do more in terms of housework and childcare, the work isn’t being divided any more equally than it had been prior to the pandemic, The New York Times reports. According to the survey, 70 percent of women feel they are solely or mostly responsible for housework during the lockdown, while 66 percent of women say the same for childcare—which is pretty the same as it was before the lockdown began.

Meanwhile, the survey found that about 20 percent of men agree that their spouse is mostly responsible for both housework and childcare. But approximately 20 percent of men also believe they are the ones mostly responsible for both tasks—only about 2 percent of women agree with them.

The report calls out that this is not the first time men have overestimated their share of housework and childcare responsibilities. Past studies have found that women are doing more than their male counterparts and frequently bear the burden of managing a job and a home.

In lockdown, the survey found that, in couples who were both working remotely and full-time, 28 percent of women said they were working less than usual compared to 19 percent of men. However, three-quarters of men also said they felt their employer expected them to work more of the same amount, despite the pandemic, as compared to two-thirds of women.

When asked who was responsible for the household chores and taking care of children, for couples with kids under the age of 12, 82 percent of women said they were, as compared to 31 percent of men.

“Being forced to be at home is amplifying the differences we already know exist,” Barbara Risman, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and part of a group of sociologists who analyzed the data, told The New York Times. “What terrifies me for the future is if it will push women out of the labor force in a way that will be very hard to overcome.”

Please note: The Bump and the materials and information it contains are not intended to, and do not constitute, medical or other health advice or diagnosis and should not be used as such. You should always consult with a qualified physician or health professional about your specific circumstances.

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