“I’m Not Back to Where I Was”: COVID-19 and Gendered Mental Health Outcomes among Working Parents in the U.S.

Abstract

This study examines how dual-earner parents in the U.S. experienced mental health in relation to their caregiving and work obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Current research shows that parents experienced heightened negative mental health outcomes during the pandemic yet does not analyze how parents understood their mental health while balancing multiple ongoing priorities. Research on parental mental health during COVID-19 largely remains quantitative. I analyze 48 semi-structured interviews with dual-earner parents in the U.S. between January 2021 and August 2022 to understand how parents interpreted their mental health during the pandemic, and how their work and caregiving obligations directly affected their mental health outcomes. Findings indicate that during the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) parents experienced an increase in negative mental health outcomes; (2) mothers attributed negative mental health outcomes to both work and childcare obligations, while fathers attributed negative mental health outcomes only to work obligations; and (3) parents, but more frequently mothers, stressed the need for a more flexible work environment in a post-COVID-19 world.