Gender Division of Unpaid Work and Relationship Satisfaction: COVID-19 as an Engine of Family Reshuffling in Italy

Abstract

Objective

We examine variation and correlates of relationship satisfaction in the advanced stages of the pandemic in Italy, focusing on COVID-19-induced changes in the division of housework and childcare.

Background

The consequences of the pandemic were not limited solely to health and economics; couples' division of unpaid work and relationships were also affected. Evidence is scarce as to how families adapted to the “new normal” and the pandemic's long-term effects on relationship satisfaction.

Method

We use novel population-level data collected in September 2021 in Italy. Both descriptive and multivariable analyses are performed separately for men and women.

Results

In a context of prevalent stability, our findings suggest that the pandemic is associated with substantial variations in family life: 37% of men and women living in heterosexual couples reported changes in their relationship satisfaction. For men and women living in couples wherein the pandemic fostered gender inequalities, relationship satisfaction declined. For partners living in couples in which the pandemic offered the opportunity for a new equilibrium with a more balanced division of unpaid work, relationship satisfaction improved.

Conclusions

Couples have attempted to adapt to the new reality brought about by the pandemic, experiencing both gains and losses in relationship satisfaction. This work challenges the idea that all couples experienced negative adjustments in relationship satisfaction during the pandemic.

Implications

Men's adjustments in unpaid work during the pandemic represents an important factor that strengthens relationships, which may set the stage for rethinking couples' role-sets in a post-COVID-19 world.