Short and long-term effects of the COVID-19 outbreak policy responses on partners' division of paid and unpaid work and their labour market outcomes.

The scientific goal of the project is to assess the diverse short (immediate) and long-term consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak policy responses for the distribution of paid and unpaid work in couples and their labour market outcomes (type of work contract, job stability, earnings, supervisory/managerial position) in Poland and in an international comparative perspective. The main focus will be on working parents with dependants, who were severely affected by the pandemic through school and childcare closures as well as disturbances to working arrangements. It is for the first time in modern history that partners who already had adopted certain division of paid and unpaid work unexpectedly had to re-arrange it because of the sudden immense increase in childcare responsibilities caused by kindergarten and school closures. At the same time, home-based work became suddenly available for many workers. Overall, these new circumstances create an extraordinary situation which may lead to either exacerbation of gender inequalities in the division of paid and unpaid labour or to more equal division. In our project, we will pay particular attention to: 1) the mechanisms underlying the changes in gender division of labour in families; 2) the moderating role of the cultural and economic context for these changes and their effects on labour market outcomes of men and women; 3) the role of the design of social distancing and confinement policies and the accompanying "cushioning" policies introduced in response to the pandemic for partners' involvement in paid work and their labour market outcomes.