Cracking under pressure?: Gender role attitudes toward maternal employment during COVID-19 in Germany

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges to gender equality, particularly affecting working parents due to disruptions in daycare and school operations. It also impacted labor market opportunities for both men and women. This study investigates shifts in gender role attitudes towards maternal employment in Germany during the pandemic's lockdowns and subsequent periods of eased restrictions, using combined data from 2008 to early 2022. During the lockdown in early 2021, we document a significant decline in egalitarian attitudes, especially for men with dependent children and women without dependent children in the household. We discuss and interpret the results against the background of various theoretical approaches. During periods of eased restrictions in early 2022, the trend reversed and gender role attitudes recovered significantly for the same groups. Our findings imply that pandemic-related changes in gender role attitudes towards maternal employment were largely transitory.