engleski

Childcare policy responses in the COVID-19 pandemic: Unpacking cross-country variation

From mid-March, childcare and schools were closed in many countries around the globe in the fight of the Covid-19 pandemic, which re-intensified the work-family conflict. Yet while social policy responses to the pandemic differed between countries, such differences increased when it came to the so- called re-opening or exit strategies out of the "lockdown". This particularly applies to childcare and schools. While some countries (such as Denmark or Norway) gave priority to childcare re-opening as a first measure, other countries (such as Germany) saw this as one of the "last measures" of re-opening (e.g. justified by the inability of small children for "social distancing"). Moreover, in some of the countries (e.g. Canada) the pandemic raised the importance of childcare for the economy and gender equality, putting it higher on political agenda. The policies regarding childcare closure vs. (re)opening were also related to (new) leaves. In our presentation, we will compare childcare policies responses during the Corona crisis, exploring the type and timing of the responses and changes and how they relate to countries' traditional and recent policy ideas and social norms in childcare.

childcare ; schools ; lockdown ; pandemic ; COVID-19

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