Home office, homeschooling or short-time work: Because of the pandemic, many families spend far more time together than before. According to a survey, fathers recognize how stressful childcare is, mothers want more support in the household.
Hanover (dpa) - Before the corona crisis, the job was the greatest stress factor for fathers, in the pandemic it is the children. This emerges from two Forsa surveys commissioned by the Hanover-based commercial health insurance company (KKH).
42 percent of the men with children under the age of 18 interviewed in April and May stated that they were under pressure due to the upbringing and care of the younger generation. 36 percent described their training or profession as particularly stressful at the moment. In November 2019, almost half of all fathers stated that they were exposed to high levels of stress at work. Only a third of the men felt stressed about the children at the time.
In contrast, the weighting of the stress factors among mothers has hardly changed since the pandemic began: Already in 2019, about half felt stressed by the upbringing and care, around a third felt because of the job. Overall, however, mothers see the crisis as significantly more stressed than fathers. Almost every second woman (44 percent) currently claims to be very often to frequently under stress, and only one in three men (32 percent).
Half of the parents surveyed wanted additional financial support to reduce stress in the corona crisis. For a third, more flexible working conditions and more recognition from the employer would be helpful. While a good half of women want more help in the household, this point is only important for just under a quarter of men. 37 percent of women crave more support in bringing up children, but only 22 percent of men.
Several scientific studies suggest that mothers are particularly burdened during the pandemic. The Mannheim Corona study, for example, records how severely citizens are affected by feelings of tension, nervousness and anxiety. "While these feelings are diminishing in all family forms, single parents have been the only group since the beginning of April in which the tension and nervousness increase again and are now the highest in comparison to the other family forms," said sociologist Katja Möhring, an author of the study, who dpa. Most women are single parents.
In addition, mothers in their home office would have restricted their working hours much more than fathers, even if they had previously worked full-time. "As a result, mothers bear the main burden in the current situation," Möhring is convinced. The Economic and Social Sciences Institute (WSI) of the Hans Böckler Foundation, which is close to the union, also comes to the conclusion in a study that women in particular take on additional childcare due to the corona-related closure of schools and daycare centers.
KKH online stress coach
Mannheim corona study
KKH for coping with stress and relaxation