A new article by Prof. Dr. Gabriela Yordanova and Prof. Dr. Ekaterina Markova in the prestigious Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe (Q1).
The main focus of the article is to illuminate the work-life balance challenges caused by school closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Bulgaria. The closure of schools introduces a new element of unpaid work: intensive involvement of parents in the educational process during distance learning, which requires additional competencies, time and effort, as well as the need to reconcile work with these new obligations. The analysis is based on two waves of the author’s pseudo-longitudinal study Covid-CAWI, conducted during the first (April-May 2020) and the second suspension of the educational process (November-December 2020) in Bulgaria. The article also analyzes data on changes in personal contact with family and friends, help given and received, and personal care given and received from the SHARE Wave 8 COVID-19 Survey 1 (July-August 2020). A terminological distinction is made between online and distance learning because the pressures on parents are different. A “push-pull” model was developed that could influence coping patterns when children are homeschooled due to learning blockages. The main coping pattern observed was that families were better prepared for the second lockdown because they had grandparents living in the same household at the time.
The publication is open access: https://doi.org/10.1080/25739638.2023.2216499
