Are the gender gaps in informal caregiving intensity and burden closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence from the Netherlands.

ABSTRACT: This research note presents the findings of changes in the gender gap in informal care provision and caregiver burden during the Spring 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in the Netherlands. Government measures in response to the pandemic strongly restricted informal caregivers in providing help and care to persons with health-related needs. At the same time, formal care was scaled back and informal caregivers' urge to help their loved ones was likely higher than before the pandemic. Generally, women pick up a larger share of informal care and experience more caregiver burden. We assessed whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected the gender gaps in informal caregiving by analyzing unique data on Dutch informal caregivers (N = 1672 caregiving situations in 1196 respondents). Results showed that wom

SUBMITTER: Raiber K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8444913 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature