According to Statistics Canada, back in 2015, fathers spent about two hours a day on child care and women spent 36 minutes more. But, what does that look like now, in the midst of a pandemic? Caregiving responsibilities have been amped up along with concerns about balancing child care, schooling and work. A survey on resuming economic and social activities during COVID-19 looks at how gender influences the division of parental tasks with families within view of five parental tasks.

The majority of men and women reported that playing with children or taking part in leisure activities with them were shared equally.

For tasks like staying at home with children and taking them to and from school or daycare, most women reported that they largely performed these by themselves while most men reported that these tasks were shared equally. Statistics Canada says that men tend to overestimate the time they spend on unpaid family work.

Because of the pandemic, home schooling was an additional responsibility on the household and was predominately undertaken by women.