Combining Work with Caring Responsibilities and Perceived Stress during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Results from the Netherlands

Karen van Hedel , Utrecht University
Mara Yerkes, Utrecht University
Irene van Valkengoed, Amsterdam UMC
Janna Besamusca, Utrecht University
Stéfanie André, Radboud University

Research on the relationship between stress and health outcomes has shown that stress is associated with adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Perceived stress levels differ by gender, socioeconomic status, marital status, parental status and the combination of marital and parental status. This study examines how perceived stress levels of Dutch men and women were affected by combining work with caregiving activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the influence of the number of working hours. The Netherlands offers an interesting case here due to the greater proportion of individuals working part-time. The COGIS-NL data were collected within the LISS panel, which is drawn by a probability sample based on register data from Statistics Netherlands. In March 2020, 863 respondents aged 24 to 62 years completed the survey. Sample sizes for the June, September, and November waves were 1,213, 1,237, and 1,089, respectively. Our outcome was perceived stress level, measured on a scale from 0 (no stress at all) to 10 (a lot of stress). Exposures included, but were not limited to, age, education, partnership status, main activity, number of children and number of working hours. First, the distributions were examined for the total population. Second, the average perceived stress levels for several subpopulations were calculated. Third, we will estimate stratified regression models to study the relationship between work and care responsibilities and perceived stress. For future steps, a longitudinal approach in which data from March, September and November of the COGIS-NL study will also be included is currently being discussed.

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 Presented in Session 53. Consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health