“It was too much for me”: mental load, mothers, and working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic
This study analyses the experiences of working from home (WfH) during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has on working mothers through the lens of “mental load.” Remote study, often lauded as a way to reduce work/life conflicts, can bring new multifaceted challenges for working mothers and, as...
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2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1208099 https://doaj.org/article/e4b559c843e342c99cb20bd3790904e1 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e4b559c843e342c99cb20bd3790904e1 2023-12-03T10:24:53+01:00 “It was too much for me”: mental load, mothers, and working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic Caitriona Delaney Alicja Bobek Sara Clavero 2023-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1208099 https://doaj.org/article/e4b559c843e342c99cb20bd3790904e1 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1208099/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-1078 1664-1078 doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1208099 https://doaj.org/article/e4b559c843e342c99cb20bd3790904e1 Frontiers in Psychology, Vol 14 (2023) working mothers COVID-19 working from home mental load narrative interviews Psychology BF1-990 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1208099 2023-11-05T01:43:44Z This study analyses the experiences of working from home (WfH) during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has on working mothers through the lens of “mental load.” Remote study, often lauded as a way to reduce work/life conflicts, can bring new multifaceted challenges for working mothers and, as this study shows, suddenly shifting to remote work led to the boundaries among work, care, and domestic labour becoming blurred. The data used here are from narrative interviews collected as part of the RESpondIng to outbreakS through co-creaTIve inclusive equality stRatEgies (RESISTIRÉ) Horizon 2020 project, which analyses the impact of COVID-19 policies on gendered inequalities across the EU27 and Türkiye, Serbia, UK, and Iceland. We draw on 12 narratives from working mothers in Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Ireland, Estonia, Greece, Portugal, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Slovakia. Employing thematic analysis, the analysis of these narratives, illuminates the challenges and opportunities of WfH and highlights its impact on mental load. While adding to the research on WfH and working mothers, the analysis also illustrates the lessons to be taken forward as well as underscoring the importance of mental load both theoretically and empirically. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Psychology 14 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
working mothers COVID-19 working from home mental load narrative interviews Psychology BF1-990 |
spellingShingle |
working mothers COVID-19 working from home mental load narrative interviews Psychology BF1-990 Caitriona Delaney Alicja Bobek Sara Clavero “It was too much for me”: mental load, mothers, and working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic |
topic_facet |
working mothers COVID-19 working from home mental load narrative interviews Psychology BF1-990 |
description |
This study analyses the experiences of working from home (WfH) during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has on working mothers through the lens of “mental load.” Remote study, often lauded as a way to reduce work/life conflicts, can bring new multifaceted challenges for working mothers and, as this study shows, suddenly shifting to remote work led to the boundaries among work, care, and domestic labour becoming blurred. The data used here are from narrative interviews collected as part of the RESpondIng to outbreakS through co-creaTIve inclusive equality stRatEgies (RESISTIRÉ) Horizon 2020 project, which analyses the impact of COVID-19 policies on gendered inequalities across the EU27 and Türkiye, Serbia, UK, and Iceland. We draw on 12 narratives from working mothers in Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Ireland, Estonia, Greece, Portugal, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Slovakia. Employing thematic analysis, the analysis of these narratives, illuminates the challenges and opportunities of WfH and highlights its impact on mental load. While adding to the research on WfH and working mothers, the analysis also illustrates the lessons to be taken forward as well as underscoring the importance of mental load both theoretically and empirically. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Caitriona Delaney Alicja Bobek Sara Clavero |
author_facet |
Caitriona Delaney Alicja Bobek Sara Clavero |
author_sort |
Caitriona Delaney |
title |
“It was too much for me”: mental load, mothers, and working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic |
title_short |
“It was too much for me”: mental load, mothers, and working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic |
title_full |
“It was too much for me”: mental load, mothers, and working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic |
title_fullStr |
“It was too much for me”: mental load, mothers, and working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic |
title_full_unstemmed |
“It was too much for me”: mental load, mothers, and working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic |
title_sort |
“it was too much for me”: mental load, mothers, and working from home during the covid-19 pandemic |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1208099 https://doaj.org/article/e4b559c843e342c99cb20bd3790904e1 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Frontiers in Psychology, Vol 14 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1208099/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-1078 1664-1078 doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1208099 https://doaj.org/article/e4b559c843e342c99cb20bd3790904e1 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1208099 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Psychology |
container_volume |
14 |
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1784273486623014912 |