'You're a teacher, a mother, a worker': Study shows toll of home-schooling on working mums

Study found working mothers assumed an additional and disproportionate care burden since the introduction of home-schooling. File picture.

As Ireland returns to home-schooling for the coming weeks, new research has shed light on its impact on working mothers.

The research, led by academics at Maynooth University, found that working mothers are experiencing psychological distress and redefined family roles due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with a new study suggesting that "as the crisis continues, these issues will likely persist".

The research showed that working women had adopted an additional and disproportionate care burden, along with an increase in the gender gap in domestic labour and the undermining of career advancement.

In research led by Katriona O'Sullivan of the Department of Psychology at Maynooth University, 30 working women were interviewed about their pandemic experiences.

"I think it's too much," said one. "My mother had a stroke last year. My mother-in-law died last year. You know, we've had some challenges, but nothing like the psychological challenge of this."

It also highlighted the difficulties of dealing with the mental strain of the pandemic while also assisting children to process what was unfolding.

The research illustrated the impact of the loss of a loved one through Covid-19. 

One woman said: "She was gone within three days and she had to ring her four girls to tell them not to ring her because she couldn't catch her breath."

According to the research: "Though Covid‐19 affected all genders, it had a high impact on women, especially those with careers."

It gave one example: "I know in the first few weeks, I was stressed I was giving out to the kids and then I just had to say, listen, I have to stop. Just stop because nobody knows what we're doing ... I can't be online eight hours a day. Yeah, it's so mixed because you're a teacher you're a mother, you're a worker. You're doing the laundry, you're cooking lunch are you're not taking a lunch break. You're all in the one room, nearly. It was, it's just mad."

Another said: "The whole thing is very challenging because there's so many women I know just dropping out of work and just kind of throwing in the towel."

It also suggested many interviewees experienced social isolation and guilt: "There was a lot of pressure from the WhatsApps over what people were doing."

"The findings show the working mothers in Ireland are experiencing psychological distress, encountered negative emotions at the beginning of the pandemic, and are redefining family roles to account for consequences of Covid‐19," it said.