Caregiving and Housework under Uncertainty: Narratives of Young Children's Mothers during 2022 Shanghai Omicron Epidemic

• In Event: 40820 - Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 8: Family and Gendered Division of Labor

Abstract

Shanghai 2022's lockdown of the Omicron epidemic brought a sudden tightening of family living space and a sudden impoverishment of living necessities. Such a sudden situation, together with national policies and the context of panic, acted on the household, making it an excellent opportunity to observe the gendered division of labor in the household under uncertainty. Using semi-structured interviews, the author attempted to understand how the gendered division of labor in the household of mothers of 0-6 year olds changed during this period and the reasons behind it. The study found that there was an asymmetric redistribution of women's and husbands' hours of housework and market work in traditional housework and caring; the work of securing the household's supplies was usually taken on directly by women; after some respondents could no longer rely on the market, the “weak participation” of some respondents led to their “lonely motherhood dilemma.” The author sought to represent the texture of the epidemic and, in conjunction with the theoretical framework of mosaic modernity, intended to analyze the contemporary women's domestic situation at a particular time from the perspective of individualized narratives.

Author

• Yuxuan Fan, Shanghai University