Are working mothers interrupted more than fathers during the lockdown?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: Are working mothers interrupted more than fathers during the lockdown?
Position1 of 2›: Yes, working mothers are impacted more than fathers by the lockdown
Argument: Women are in charge of the childcare

The argument

Women are still in charge of childcare in the midst of a pandemic. This argument assumes women, as they are more so in charge of child-related responsibilities, will then be more impacted when attempting to work from home. Where childcare and paid work occupy the same rooms and the same hours, whoever holds the childcare is the person whose working day is broken up. The pattern predates the crisis. Societal expectations surrounding housework and childcare have long been expected to be fulfilled by mothers. The expectation that women are in charge of childcare has caused working mothers to be more greatly impacted than fathers by coronavirus lockdowns. Lockdown did not create the division of labour; it removed the arrangements that had been absorbing part of it, so the underlying allocation became visible in full. Proponents acknowledge movement without accepting that it changes the conclusion. Despite studies showing fathers taking more responsibility towards childcare during lockdown, evidence still shows the task falls disproportionately to women — a shift within an unequal distribution leaves the distribution unequal. This stems from a societal expectation and sense of responsibility, as well as a reality that the current economic climate could be categorized as a “she-cession.” The employment figures are offered as the measure of it. A study found that mothers were 23% more likely than fathers to have temporarily or permanently lost their jobs during the crisis. Mothers were 47% more likely to have permanently lost their job or quit. The gap between those two figures matters to the argument: the disparity is larger for permanent exits than for temporary ones. Therefore, formerly working mothers may now be unemployed and running households, or currently working mothers may be making the effort simultaneously.

Premises

[P1]Long-standing societal expectations place housework and childcare disproportionately on mothers, so they bear more child-related responsibility even when working from home during the pandemic. [P2] This burden shows up economically as a "she-cession": mothers were 23% more likely than fathers to lose their jobs and 47% more likely to permanently lose work or quit. [C] Therefore, because women remain in charge of childcare, working mothers are interrupted and impacted more than fathers during lockdown.

Counter-arguments

Though mothers may have historically been considered more responsible for childcare, the pandemic has shifted the conduct of fathers. Increasingly, fathers are more responsible and active with child-related responsibilities and housework. The argument could also be made that if two parents are working from home an equal amount of time, their chance of interruption by children is equal.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] The unequal distribution of care is well documented, but the premise's own wording concedes that fathers took on more during lockdown, so what is needed is a measure of the remaining gap and of its effect on working hours — neither of which is given. "Societal expectation" is also offered as the cause without ruling out earnings differences and who was able to work from home. [Rejecting P2] The employment figures measure job loss rather than interruption, which is what the question asks about, and a parent who has lost work is not being interrupted while working. The percentages come with no source and no base rate, and job losses concentrated in sectors employing more women would produce the same numbers without the premise's explanation.