Doing Family under Difficult Conditions

Separated and Single Parents during Corona Pandemic

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17169/ogj.2024.235

Keywords:

COVID 19, Family, Fatherhood, Motherhood, Single Parents

Abstract

In the Corona pandemic families were suffering a lot from restrictions. Schools and other institutional childcare were closed and many parents had to work from home. This was particularly challenging for single parents reconciling work and family life and we will focus on this group. In our qualitative longitudinal research project “Mothers and Fathers in the Corona Pandemic” we conducted three waves of interviews with 11–20 (partly single) fathers and mothers. Our leading question was “How did single parents manage the challenges of the pandemic?” Our analysis focuses on the role of ex-partners and further supporting networks. We see how the quality of these supporting structures can influence stress for single parents. We also analyse how stereotypes of fatherhood and motherhood influence the stress single parents faced and show that especially traditional concepts of motherhood could lead to a breakdown of their own health and emotional system.

Author Biographies

Anna Buschmeyer, Deutsches Jugendinstitut e.V.

Dr. Anna Buschmeyer is a sociologist and has been a researcher at the German Youth Institute (DJI) since 2014, where she coordinates the gender research for the DJI and conducts research in the fields of gender and family, masculinity, fatherhood and care. At the moment she leads together with Claudia Zerle-Elsäßer the DFG-funded project “Comparing three generations of fathers in Poland and Germany: continuity and change in practices of fatherhood”. From 2009 to 2013, she worked as a research assistant at the Institute of Sociology at the LMU in Munich and completed her doctorate with a thesis on men and masculinities in the childcare profession.

Claudia Zerle-Elsäßer, Deutsches Jugendinstitut e.V.

Dr. Claudia Zerle-Elsäßer is a sociologist and head of the "Living Conditions and Lifestyle of Families" department at the German Youth Institute (DJI) in Munich. She conducts research on fatherhood, parenthood, parenting and family life and is also a lecturer in social work at Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg. At the moment she leads together with Anna Buschmeyer the DFG-funded project “Comparing three generations of fathers in Poland and Germany: continuity and change in practices of fatherhood”.

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Published

2024-06-25

How to Cite

Buschmeyer, A., & Zerle-Elsäßer, C. (2024). Doing Family under Difficult Conditions: Separated and Single Parents during Corona Pandemic. Open Gender Journal, 8. https://doi.org/10.17169/ogj.2024.235

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Research Articles