Caretaking and Pandemics: How Caretaking Impacts Policy Opinions

• In Event: Comparative Analyses of Gender and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

How does caregiving during the current global pandemic shape individuals’ views of policies aimed to help caregivers? How do gender, race, perceptions of caregiving roles, and the scope of caregiving responsibilities shape attitudes toward these programs? The global pandemic has drawn attention in the U.S. to the absence of support for the caretaking of children and the elderly - responsibilities that predominantly fall on the shoulders of women. These responsibilities have pushed many women to re-evaluate their roles and priorities. Millions of women have dropped out of the workforce, some due to the inability to balance work and the responsibilities of caring for their children and/or elderly family members (Skufca 2020; Karageorge 2020). At the same time, during the pandemic, the caretaking responsibilities of men also increased, the social, economic, and political consequences of which we do not yet understand.

In 2021, the Democratic party responded to these challenges with the “Build Back Better” , a wide-ranging bill that included provisions to help caregivers. While Congressional support for “Build Back Better” is divided on party lines, polls show that a majority of Americans support the bill, including sizeable numbers of Republicans (Duran, Azevedo, and Jackson 2021; McElwee 2021). Yet, most polls do not disaggregate different policies that make up the plan.

We argue that experiences with caretaking should increase support for policies that provide assistance and support for caregiving, especially among marginalized communities. We also expect caretaking experiences to increase support for such policies among men, who experienced a greater increase in caretaking during the pandemic relative to many women, who have traditionally shouldered such responsibilities. Finally, we expect that individuals who connect caregiving to political motivations and recognize positive skills from caregiving should be more supportive of such policies. We test these arguments with data from an original survey fielded with a diverse set of YouGov panelists in July of 2021. We offer a more in-depth consideration of caregiving responsibilities and attitudes toward caregiving than is found in existing scholarship, across a diverse population, and across a wide-ranging set of policies that provide support for caretakers and caregiving. Our findings show that both objective and subjective views of caregiving shape policies designed to provide resources and recognition of caregiving, and the pandemic has led to a shift in gendered expectations. Our theorizing and findings contribute to literature on gender and politics, as well as the broader literature on public opinion by considering a context in which individual experiences can shape policy attitudes.

Authors

• Ivy A.M. Cargile, California State University, Bakersfield

• Jill S. Greenlee, Brandeis University

• Rachel VanSickle-Ward, Pitzer College

• Sarah Virginia Hayes, California State University, Fresno

• Jennifer L. Merolla, University of California, Riverside