TY - JOUR A1 - Li, Jianghong A1 - Bünning, Mareike A1 - Kaiser, Till A1 - Hipp, Lena T1 - Who suffered most? BT - parental stress and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany JF - Journal of family research N2 - Objective: This study examines gender and socioeconomic inequalities in parental psychological wellbeing (parenting stress and psychological distress) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Background: The dramatic shift of childcare and schooling responsibility from formal institutions to private households during the pandemic has put families under enormous stress and raised concerns about caregivers' health and wellbeing. Despite the overwhelming media attention to families’ wellbeing, to date limited research has examined parenting stress and parental psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in Germany. Method: We analyzed four waves of panel data (N= 1,771) from an opt-in online survey, which was conducted between March 2020 and April 2021. Multivariable OLS regressions were used to estimate variations in the pandemic's effects on parenting stress and psychological distress by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Results: Overall, levels of parenting stress and psychological distress increased during the pandemic. During the first and third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, mothers, parents with children younger than 11 years, parents with two or more children, parents working from home as well as parents with financial insecurity experienced higher parenting stress than other sociodemographic groups. Moreover, women, respondents with lower incomes, single parents, and parents with younger children experienced higher levels of psychological distress than other groups. Conclusion: Gender and socioeconomic inequalities in parents' psychological wellbeing increased among the study participants during the pandemic. KW - COVID-19 KW - parenting stress KW - gender inequality KW - mental health KW - psychological distress KW - Germany KW - children Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.20377/jfr-704 SN - 2699-2337 VL - 34 IS - 1 SP - 281 EP - 309 PB - University of Bamberg Press CY - Bamberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fritsch, Nina-Sophie A1 - Verwiebe, Roland A1 - Liedl, Bernd T1 - Declining Gender Differences in Low-Wage Employment in Germany, Austria and Switzerland JF - Comparative Sociology N2 - Although the low-wage employment sector has enlarged over the past 20 years in the context of pronounced flexibility in restructured labor markets, gender differences in low-wage employment have declined in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In this article, the authors examine reasons for declining gender inequalities, and most notably concentrate on explanations for the closing gender gap in low-wage employment risks. In addition, they identify differences and similarities among the German-speaking countries. Based on regression techniques and decomposition analyses (1996-2016), the authors find significantly decreasing labor market risks for the female workforce. Detailed analysis reveals that (1) the concrete positioning in the labor market shows greater importance in explaining declining gender differences compared to personal characteristics. (2) The changed composition of the labor markets has prevented the low-wage sector from increasing even more in general and works in favor of the female workforce and their low-wage employment risks in particular. KW - low-wage employment KW - gender inequality KW - labor market KW - Germany KW - Austria KW - Switzerland Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1163/15691330-12341507 SN - 1569-1322 SN - 1569-1330 VL - 18 IS - 4 SP - 449 EP - 488 PB - Brill CY - Leiden ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fritsch, Nina-Sophie A1 - Verwiebe, Roland A1 - Liedl, Bernd T1 - Declining Gender Differences in Low-Wage Employment in Germany, Austria and Switzerland JF - Comparative Sociology N2 - Although the low-wage employment sector has enlarged over the past 20 years in the context of pronounced flexibility in restructured labor markets, gender differences in low-wage employment have declined in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In this article, the authors examine reasons for declining gender inequalities, and most notably concentrate on explanations for the closing gender gap in low-wage employment risks. In addition, they identify differences and similarities among the German-speaking countries. Based on regression techniques and decomposition analyses (1996-2016), the authors find significantly decreasing labor market risks for the female workforce. Detailed analysis reveals that (1) the concrete positioning in the labor market shows greater importance in explaining declining gender differences compared to personal characteristics. (2) The changed composition of the labor markets has prevented the low-wage sector from increasing even more in general and works in favor of the female workforce and their low-wage employment risks in particular. KW - low-wage employment KW - gender inequality KW - labor market KW - Germany KW - Austria KW - Switzerland Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1163/15691330-12341507 SN - 1569-1330 SN - 1569-1322 VL - 18 IS - 4 SP - 449 EP - 448 PB - Brill CY - Leiden ER -