This research seeks to analyze gender disparities in work-related outcomes within the framework of Covid-19. The authors argued that the Covid-19 epidemic would engender a gender disparity in reported work productivity and job happiness. Women are expected to spend extra time on housekeeping and childcare while schools are closed and couples are working from home all day.

The authors used a sample of employed individuals from dual-career families who have been working from home since the onset of Covid-19 lockdowns. There were 286 full-time workers living in the US who took part in this survey. Participants were asked to disclose their work productivity and job satisfaction before to and after the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Prior to the Covid-19 epidemic, no gender disparities were seen in self-assessed work productivity and job satisfaction. But during the lockdown, women said they were less productive and happy at work than males. Limitations and implications of the research – Participants provided retrospective accounts of their work productivity and job satisfaction before to the onset of Covid-19. However, substantial gender disparities in retrospective reports of these metrics seem improbable. Additionally, the authors only sampled opposite-sex dual-career parents. Subsequent study must investigate the impacts of lockdowns on women and men in various home types.

Because of the way the Covid-19 pandemic works, many areas may have to go through many lockdowns, and many businesses have already put in place or are expected to put in place long-term work-from-home policies. The results show that these long-term changes in the workplace could have long-term bad effects on how women in dual-career families see their productivity and job satisfaction. The results also show that society needs to give women who work from home and take care of children or other dependents more help, especially when schools and daycare centers are closed or during lockdowns.

Nanyang Technological University gave Krishna Savani a Nanyang Assistant Professorship grant to help with this project. The authors like to express their gratitude to Dayana Bulchand for her cooperation with this study. Originality/Value – This study is among the first studies to assert that, despite women dedicating more time to domestic responsibilities and childcare than males, they exhibit equivalent productivity and job satisfaction within typical circumstances. The Covid-19 epidemic, on the other hand, made women do more housework and childcare than they could handle, which led to a difference in work productivity and job happiness between men and women.