Between June and July 2021, EIGE conducted an online survey on gender equality and the socio-economic consequences resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The data was gathered in all EU Member States, reaching a total of 42,300 participants between 20 and 64 years of age at the EU level, with typically around 1,500 individuals per country[1] (depending on its population size). The primary objective of the survey was to provide further evidence on the interconnections between changes in unpaid and paid work for women and men during the pandemic, the role of government policies implemented to cope with the pandemic, and their implications for gender equality. Key to achieving this objective was the development of a questionnaire which explores the share of informal care in the household for two time periods, before the pandemic in February/March 2020 and during the pandemic in June/July 2021. As such, the survey identified and covered gaps in the current selection of cross-national surveys. The main topics covered are:

• Time dedicated to- and distribution of- paid work and unpaid care (children/grandchildren, older people, or people with limitations in their usual activities due to health problems and/or with disabilities care, and housework) within the household
• Working arrangements (time schedules, flexitime, teleworking, system-relevant jobs, personal and household incomes)
• Work-life balance (the use of available institutional instruments)
• Perceived efficacy and productivity of workers as well as job satisfaction
• Leisure time and wellbeing

EIGE has used the results of the survey to analyse the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on informal care, the thematic focus of the Gender Equality Index for 2022. The indicators to describe the situation before the start of- and during the pandemic have recently been published on EIGE’s gender statistics database. Some key findings are described below.

Women more often experienced an increase in both their paid and unpaid work burden, especially with young children.

Women have more time-intense childcare responsibilities, particularly for children/grandchildren aged 0-11 during the pandemic. 40% of women and 21% of men spend at least four hours on a typical weekday for children and grandchildren under 12 years of age (Figure 1). The percentage difference between women and men doing this amount of childcare for this age group ranges from 7 percentage points in Belgium to 30 percentage points in Germany and Portugal. Furthermore, women more often report a simultaneous increase both in paid working hours and childcare responsibilities (aged 0-11) (30%) than men (18%).

Figure 1: Women and men caring for their children/grandchildren (aged 0-11) every day for 4 hours or more during the pandemic (%, 20–64, EU, 2021)

Survey item: “Nowadays, how many hours per typical weekday are you involved in the childcare of children/grandchildren 0–11 years old (including assistance with school tasks and/or home schooling)?”. Answers: less than 1 hour; between 1 and 2 hours; between 3 and 4 hours; more than 4

Long-term care loads intensified generally, yet gender inequalities deepened in the take-up of external support[2] and individual well-being

Informal long-term care[3] demands are placed upon both women and men. Overall, nearly one-third of working-age adults in the EU (30 % of women and 31 % of men) said they provided informal care to family members, relatives or friends either living in the household and/or outside during the pandemic. Similar shares, however, mask important gender differences in the perceived distribution of care within the household. While 58 % of women carers in the EU believe they almost always or mostly provide informal care, 43% of men carers think they do so (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Distribution of informal long-term care among women and men within the household before and during the pandemic (%, 20-64, EU, 2021)

Survey item: "Nowadays/Before the pandemic, who in your household provides care for older people or people with limitations in their usual activities due to health problems and/or with disabilities?". Answers: completely or mostly my partner (pooling together categories 'almost completely my partner' and 'for the most part my partner'); about equal or both together; completely or mostly me ('almost completely me' and 'for the most part me'))?”. Answers: less than 1 hour; between 1 and 2 hours; between 3 and 4 hours; more than 4 hours

However, women overall rely less on formal- and informal external support in providing both types of care, with gender differences increasing when comparing the start to mid-pandemic period.[4] In particular, there is a notable gender gap in using formal[5] long-term care services. Across the EU, 36% of women and 51% of men use formal long-term care services regularly[6]. The gender gap for using informal support from relatives, neighbours, and friends outside of the household is smaller (35% of women and 40% of men). Moreover, in the area of leisure, women long-term carers are less likely to regularly participate in individual and social activities at least 4 times a week or more than men with long-term care duties (79% compared to 86%).

Men had greater opportunity to blend job and care demands through flexitime and teleworking, while women faced bigger challenges in their teleworking conditions