Alone/Together: Mothers' experiences of parenting through COVID-19

Mothers experience unique challenges in our world, but they are being tested in unprecedented ways during the current pandemic. Professor at the School of Social Work, May Friedman, aims to understand how COVID-19 is affecting mothers. Previous research has revealed some of the unique and evolving challenges mothers face including the wage gap and gendered divisions of labour. During COVID-19, employment expectations, unemployment realities, and mothering expectations collide with homeschooling and other social expectations that are likely to fall largely on mothers. "In the current moment of extreme social intensity juxtaposed with social isolation, mothers are implicated in specific and complex ways; these implications are uniquely experienced based on intersectional experiences of motherhood," explains Friedman. "Supporting mothers in telling their stories allows for these experiences to be taken seriously and may support advocacy that will allow for better social supports to mothers and families." Along with Friedman, the research team will include Jacqui Gingras from the Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Arts.