On March 24th, 2020, as the country declared a nationwide lockdown due to the spread of COVID-19, many of us took it as an extended spring break, leave from work, and a blessing in disguise for a week away from deadening office hours. However, as the lockdown extended beyond a point, working from and at home became a new norm that has continued well into August.

In these extraordinarily frightening times, the domestic help received a rather cold termination, and inevitably, many saw the women of their house as the most suitable substitute for the same. But what do we do when the women of our families are no longer limited to the role of a homemaker? What do we do when our women are so much more than the sole caretakers of domestic chores?

The last few months have been tough in many spheres of life, but one dimension that seems to be changing for good is that of gender roles and a more liberal division of household chores between men and women. While many women may still continue to take a larger load than men, a notable number of families have also emerged as reversing the roles and creating a fairer distribution of household tasks including childcare.

A recent study has predicted that the pandemic situation could enable normalizing the idea of a male as the primary home-maker in the near future. It also emphasized the idea that as more and more people are forced to work from home, they have become more acquainted with childcare needs. Owing to the same, they are likely to consider more flexible working hours in order to ensure a smooth work-home balance for both men and women. This is likely to benefit women who currently struggle to pursue their careers while meeting the needs and demands of the family. Further, the study also documents that the gender pay gap is likely to be associated with childbirth. As women are expected to plan a family and eventually conceive, they are seen as less flexible to take up challenging tasks at work. This is the core reason for a gender pay gap between men and women. Within this context, long term changes in gender roles in the labor market are likely to stem from an equal division of work at home.

A current Population Survey and the American Time Use Survey data on telework has also indicated that in about 9-12% of the households where women may be frontline workers, the men may become the sole caretakers of the house. As men spend less time at their workplace, their utility is maintained in terms of lending a hand in the domestic errands. Although the pandemic has disrupted many aspects of our lives, it may also normalize men sharing household responsibilities as the time passes by. The pandemic has brought to people’s notice the fact that household chores, looking after the children, and other essentially “mundane” tasks are not so mundane after all. They require energy, effort, and zest, none of which should be based on gender but rather fairly divided amongst partners and other members of the family too. Moreover, rural women in India have also taken up leadership roles in the community during the current crisis. For instance, the ASHA workers have worked their fingers to the bone to contribute to the process of data collection, providing aid to those in need and spreading awareness about COVID-19 on a door to door platform.

Gender roles assign gender-specific ways of acting, thinking, behaving, dressing, and interacting within society. This, in turn, limits the scope of exploring, understanding, empathizing, and sharing the duties/roles performed across genders. Studies have also indicated that men hold on to the societal expectations regarding their role more strongly as compared to women. This, however, has weakened over time.

The newly revised, flexible distribution of work can also help to enhance the father-child relationship. Research has indicated that almost 70% of fathers belonging to a diverse race, caste, ethnicity, educational qualifications, and political affinity are reported to have a more strengthened relationship with their children. This is likely to shift women-centric childcare to a relatively more flexible and shared arrangement.

Studies have also indicated that understanding each other’s chunk of workload and sharing with one another can also help the couples to enhance their relationship. It can enable a deeper, better, and stronger understanding between them, thereby improving their relationship, and possibly weakening gender stereotypes as well. A report by the Knot (wedding planner) and Lasting (relationship health app) also indicated that six in ten engaged couples reported having a strengthened relationship during the COVID-19 restrictions.

COVID-19 has left many shaken and aghast, however, it has also positively impacted society’s understanding of the “banal household tasks.'' It has brought to light how effort consuming and respect-worthy they are. Thus, these weakening gender roles may help to bridge the gap between how genders are viewed within the domain of superiority-inferiority spectrum and lead towards a more inclusive, impartial, and fair society.

Bhavyaa Sehgal