Home office and childcare difficulties have led to working hours shifting to evenings and weekends in the Corona pandemic. This affected more women than men, according to surveys by the Institute for Employment Research at the German Federal Employment Agency. "Mothers in particular worked more often on weekends or in the evenings, among other things in order to be able to look after their children when schools and daycare centers were closed or during distance learning," explained researcher Corinna Frodermann in Nuremberg on Tuesday.

According to the institute, around 52 percent of mothers with children under the age of 14 shifted their working hours at least partially to evenings or weekends at the start of the pandemic in April 2020. For fathers, this had applied to about 31 percent. The proportion for mothers fell to around 26 percent by October 2020, according to the report, but was still significantly higher on average than for fathers at around 18 percent.

Overall, 33 percent of workers who had children under 14 to care for in April 2020 shifted their work hours at least some of the time, it said. For those without children, the figure was 16 percent, it said.More than a third of those who worked from home at least some of the time reported working different hours in April 2020 than they did before the pandemic, it said. Among employees who did not use a home office, the figure was just under 15 percent, he said. By October 2020, the percentages in both groups had dropped to about 18 and 5 percent, respectively.The data are based on a survey of workers in private-sector companies with at least 50 employees. In April last year, 1,212 people participated, in June 909 and in October 682.

Earlier surveys had shown, among other things, that women were significantly more likely to be affected by short-time work during this economic crisis. During the financial crisis a decade ago, it had been men.This had to do with the fact that at that time, industries in which many men worked were in greater crisis. This time, it was industries such as the catering and event management sectors in which many women work.Studies on the division of domestic duties between women and men showed that women were more burdened by raising children at home. However, others also proved that men expanded the extent to which they were involved at home more than women.

Photo by Charles Deluvio