Stay home and be unfair: The amplification of inequalities among families with young children during COVID-19

Abstract

This article focuses on the educational practices and strategies mobilised by Italian families with children aged six years and younger, during the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, in 2020. Specifically, we analyse practices and strategies mobilised by families from different social milieus living in rural or urban contexts. We argue that the shift in childcare practices and needs during the pandemic promoted the reaffirmation of traditional gender stereotypes and patterns of gendered labour division through the blurring of temporal and spatial boundaries between paid work, domestic labour and childcare. Our findings shed light on how differences in household circumstances, such as the availability of space in the home, have impacted disparities in childcare. Specifically, how different housing conditions have profoundly influenced the coping mechanisms of both children and parents during school closures. We conclude by discussing teachers' attempts to realise educational activities for supporting continuity in the pedagogical relationship, in a context of different family conditions and educational patterns.