Women’s domestic multitasking: the phenomenon of feminization of unpaid work in Polish households during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aims to present the concept of the feminization of unpaid work. We offer a conceptualization of this phenomenon based on the literature review and analysis of the experiences of Polish parents during COVID-19 pandemic. The feminization of unpaid work has cultural, economic, social, and institutional sources and manifests in women’s domestic multitasking, which means constant and routine responsibility for domestic and family duties. Its consequences are mainly visible in the precarious position of women in the public sphere but also in women’s poor psycho-physical conditions. The feminization of unpaid work should be seen as a set of interdependent processes that reinforces gender inequalities in the domestic and public spheres, especially in times of crisis. The analysis is based on qualitative material gathered through two nationwide diary writing contests in Poland during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. The experiences of Polish parents who wrote diaries during the COVID-19 pandemic help to understand the differences between men’s and women’s situations in times of crisis by extracting from their diary narratives the key processes that form the field of the feminization process of unpaid domestic work.