Linda Duxbury, Work, Family, Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Story Continues

Work, Family, Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Story Continues

Principal Investigator: Linda Duxbury, Management
Funder: SSHRC Partnership Engage
Partner: CMHA Ontario

This proposal describes a longitudinal study of the impacts of COVID-19 on members of the sandwich generation – adults caring for younger children and aging parents – who are balancing competing demands of paid employment, childcare and eldercare. The research team plans to address the question of how the COVID pandemic is impacting the well-being of employed men and women in the sandwich generation over time. How are they coping with the multiple, complex, and evolving challenges posed by trying to balance changes in their employment situation (e.g. working from home or providing essential services outside the home) and caring conditions (e.g. home schooling children, physical distancing from elderly family members, losing social and medical supports) during the pandemic? At the macro-level our investigation is designed to help researchers, mental health practitioners, and policy makers better understand how ‘sandwiched’ employees are adapting and managing daily lives that have been drastically challenged by COVID-19. Results from this study will have relevance to academics and practitioners working in the work-life, employee well-being, communication, stress and coping domains as well as governments who are tasked with making decisions impacting all Canadians during this pandemic and other crises.