Family Life in Lockdown

The lockdown imposed following the COVID-19 pandemic of spring 2020 dramatically changed daily lives and routines millions people worldwide. We analyze how such changes contributed to patterns activity within household using a novel survey Italian, British, American families in lockdown. A high percentage report disruptions family life, manifesting new work patterns, chore allocations, tensions. Though men have taken an increased share childcare grocery shopping duties, reallocations are not nearly as stark might suggest, having reallocate duties greater Our results highlight tightened constraints budging up against stable gendered intra-household cooperation norms. While long-run consequences on life cannot be assessed at this stage, we point toward likely opportunities challenges.