Housework and Parenting during the Lockdowns in France: How Have Socio-Economic and Gender Inequalities Changed?

The lockdowns imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedented impact on people's time use. This article analyses the changes in time spent on household tasks and parenting by men and women during the lockdowns of the spring and autumn of 2020 in France, by social category, education, working arrangements and family configurations, using data from the major longitudinal EpiCov survey. The time spent on housework was high in the spring of 2020 and caring for children was particularly time consuming. This additional domestic and parental burden affected both women and men, but women continued to perform the majority of the housework, in spite of the similar working conditions between the sexes during this period. During the first lockdown, women at the top of the social hierarchy, who generally perform fewer household chores, spent far more time than usual on these tasks, thereby temporarily reducing social differences. © 2022, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques. All rights reserved.

Workplace Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 among Key Workers and Related Social Inequalities: Evidence from France during the First Lockdown

Introduction: This study aims to assess potential occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 among key workers in France during the first lockdown and describe their socio-demographic profile to identify social inequalities in the occupation of these jobs. Material and Methods: Based on the 2019 edition of the population-based Working Conditions survey, we quantified potential work-related exposure to SARS-CoV-2 as: "exposure to infectious agents,” "face-to-face contact with the public,” and "working with colleagues". We then used the French list of essential jobs to identify the main groups of key worker occupations. Log-binomial regression models were performed to identify associated occupational and socio-demographic factors. Results: Compared to other workers, key workers in all groups had greater exposure to infectious agents and more physical contact with others, however, working with colleagues differed among key worker groups. In general, women, employees and manual workers, people working on temporary contracts, those with low levels of education and income, and non-European immigrants were more likely to be key workers. Being female, born outside of metropolitan France, and working as a non-executives professional interacted in increasing the probability of occupying a key job. Conclusions: Key workers are more likely to have low social status and precarious employment and to be exposed to SARS-CoV-2 through their work. This study contributes to a growing body of research providing evidence of accumulated disadvantages among key workers with regard to social background, geographical origin and exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

Socio-occupational inequalities in potential work-related exposure to SARS-COV-2

Introduction The risk of contracting COVID-19 is not uniform across occupations. Certain workers, exposed to diseases/infections, interfacing with the public/colleagues, unable to work from home, and without appropriate personal protective equipment are likely to experience higher workplace exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Objective To describe the proportion of workers potentially exposed to coronavirus in each occupation under 'routine' working conditions, as well as a baseline socio-demographic profile of these workers in France. Methods We combined two French cross-sectional population-based surveys: 'Working Conditions' (CT-2013) and 'Medical Surveillance of Occupational Risk Exposure' (Sumer-2017) to quantify 'exposure to infectious agents', 'face-to-face contact with the public' and 'working with colleagues'. We then identified the most exposed occupations before the first lockdown and built an exposure matrix. Finally, we described other socio-demographic characteristics (age, sex, occupational group, educational level, income level, origin) of the workers with the highest potential exposure to COVID-19. Results Before the first lockdown, 42% (11 million) of French workers were exposed to at least two COVID-19 occupational exposure factors. While most exposed workers are in the health care sector, other occupations such as social workers, hotel/restaurant employees, army/police officers, firefighters, hairdressers, and teachers also have a high proportion of exposed workers. Middle age participants, females, unskilled employees, those with post-secondary non-tertiary education, those with lower income level, French-born in overseas departments, and descendants of non-European immigrants faced a greater risk of occupational exposure to coronavirus before the first lockdown. Conclusions Our exposure matrix can now be used as an input in ongoing French cohorts to attribute a baseline level of work-related exposure and adjust it based on actual working arrangements during the epidemic. Surveillance of occupational exposure to coronavirus and the socio-demographic characteristics of the workers vulnerable to this virus is key to the implementation of occupation-specific public health response to Covid-19.