During the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world witnessed major economic, school, and daycare closures. We sampled respondents in Australia and the US during the height of the first restrictions to understand how the first quarantine structured their emotional strain and financial worry (825 Australians and 835 Americans aged between 18 and 65; May 2–3, 2020; source YouGov). We apply structural equation modeling to demonstrate that the emotional well-being impacts of COVID-19 are not only gendered but also vary between childless people and parents. Specifically, we show that compared to Australians, Americans were more impacted by changes in their financial circumstances. Further, while the financial worry and emotional strain impacts were similar between childless people and parents in Australia, significant differences existed between the two groups in the United States. In particular, we identify American mothers as the most disadvantaged group—feeling the most anxious and financially worried about both employment and domestic changes under COVID-19. Policy wise, we argue that COVID-19 is exacerbating gender inequality in emotional health. To slow down this trend, more adequate mental health supports are needed, particularly for mothers.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 期间的情绪和财务健康：澳大利亚和美国家务、就业和儿童保育的作用


在 COVID-19 大流行的最初几个月里，世界各地出现了重大经济、学校和日托关闭。我们在第一次限制最严重期间对澳大利亚和美国的受访者进行了抽样调查，以了解第一次隔离如何缓解他们的情绪压力和财务担忧（825 名澳大利亚人和 835 名美国人，年龄在 18 岁至 65 岁之间；2020 年 5 月 2 日至 3 日；资料来源 YouGov） 。我们应用结构方程模型来证明，COVID-19 对情绪健康的影响不仅存在性别差异，而且在无子女人群和父母之间也存在差异。具体来说，我们发现与澳大利亚人相比，美国人更容易受到财务状况变化的影响。此外，虽然澳大利亚无子女人群和父母之间的财务担忧和情绪压力影响相似，但美国的两组之间存在显着差异。特别是，我们将美国母亲视为最弱势的群体——在 COVID-19 的影响下，她们对就业和家庭变化感到最焦虑和经济上的担忧。从政策角度来看，我们认为 COVID-19 正在加剧情感健康方面的性别不平等。为了减缓这一趋势，需要更充分的心理健康支持，特别是对母亲而言。