New Publication: "To the Fifties and Back Again? A Comparative Analysis of Changes in Breadwinning Arrangements during the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Four European Countries"

Did opposite-sex couples experience relapses into traditional breadwinning arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic?

In their study “The role of economic insecurity in shaping gender attitudes: A cross-national study of 29 European countries”, Giulia M Dotti Sani, Claudia Schmiedeberg and Ariane Bertogg examine how economic insecurity influences gender-related attitudes. The focus is on whether opposite-sex couples experienced short- and medium-term relapses into traditional breadwinning arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authors formulate the following hypotheses:

1. A shift towards a more traditional breadwinning arrangement occurred during the pandemic.
2. This traditionalization is temporary, with couples being more likely to experience this type of transition in the earlier stage of the pandemic rather than in the later stage.

The study is based on data from longitudinal studies from four European countries during the pandemic: Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The dependent variable captures the change in the couple's division of paid labour towards a more traditional breadwinning arrangement: couples or individuals whose breadwinning arrangement changed to a more traditional one during the pandemic are compared to those who did not exhibit change or whose circumstances changed towards a more egalitarian distribution of paid work. Two explanatory variables were analyzed: the woman's level of education and the combination of the partner's levels of education.

The results confirm previous studies that indicate a (moderate) decline in female labor force participation, implying re-traditionalization. However, this effect is relatively small. Re-traditionalization appears to be stronger in the beginning of the pandemic in all countries, except the UK, where re-traditionalization increased during lockdown. No protective effect of women's or their partner's tertiary education in relation to re-traditionalization is found. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic did not appear to deepen pre-existing social inequalities in couples’ division of paid work.

Furthermore, the authors hypothesise that changes may also run towards de-traditionalization.
The results of the study provide important evidence on how pandemic-related political measures may lead to gender inequality or re-traditionalization.

The article was published in Work, Employment and Society.