Schools, childcare infrastructures, and mothers' time use and psychological well-being : evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark
Heisig, Jan Paul (Freire Universität Berlin)
Gracia, Pablo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Morton, Thomas (University of Copenhagen)
Power, Séamus A. (University of Copenhagen)
Schaeffer, Merlin (University of Copenhagen)
Udsen, Rebecca (University of Copenhagen)
Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics

Date:	2025
Abstract:	Schools and childcare infrastructures are key in shaping parents' daily routines and well-being. Focusingon COVID-19 school disruptions, we examine how women's time use and psychological well-beingchanged as schools and childcare facilities closed and later reopened during the first wave of the pan-demic in Denmark (April 1-June 26, 2020). Using data from a longitudinal opt-in online survey withDanish residents, we find that the reopening of schools and childcare facilities was associated withdeclines in mothers' childcare time and increases in their paid work time. Global measures of mothers'psychological well-being, based on questions about life satisfaction and feelings during the last week,show only few trends over the period of reopening. The clearest one is a decline in worriednessthat is, however, observed among women without co-resident children as well. Measures of the emo-tional experience of day-to-day activities from an activity sampling module reveal that mothers' experi-ences of care work improved substantially as schools reopened. After full reopening, mothers reportedmuch lower levels of negative emotions during care work, while no similar trend was found for otheractivities. These findings indicate that schools and childcare facilities play a crucial role for maternal well-being in pandemic and non-pandemic times.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Maternal well-being ; Child care ; Mental health ; School closures ; COVID-19 ; Time use
Published in:	Acta sociologica, September 2025, ISSN 1502-3869

DOI: 10.1177/00016993251379178

16 p, 1.7 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Centre for Demographic Studies (CED-CERCA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles