Covid pandemic has made UK women less satisfied with life than men

Balancing childcare with work and an unfair burden of household chores may be contributing factors, psychologists say

Despite women tending to have higher life satisfaction than men, the coronavirus pandemic has led to a reversal of this. EPA

Despite women tending to have higher life satisfaction than men, the coronavirus pandemic has led to a reversal of this, a leading report has found.

Examining the social impacts of the pandemic, Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS) took data from November 25 to 29 from more than 6,000 people and compared it to information prior the crisis.

Over the more recent period, women reported a higher average anxiety (4.6) score than men (3.8). Men reported slightly higher average scores for life satisfaction (6.9), feelings that acitivies in life are worthwhile (7.4) and happiness (6.9) than women (6.7, 7.3 and 6.7 respectively).

Prior to the pandemic, research showed women tend towards higher scores for life satisfaction.

Previous research also found that women usually report higher average scores of anxiety than men, which remained unchanged by the pandemic.

"This year we have, unsurprisingly, seen levels of life satisfaction fall compared with pre-pandemic. This is true for both men and women, but in the last few weeks women have reported slightly lower life satisfaction than men," David Ainslie from the Office for National Statistics told The National.

“What makes for one’s sense of life satisfaction is a complex issue and clearly this is a difficult year for many people.”

Averil Leimon, a leadership psychologist at White Water Group, said the difference between men and women's life satisfaction during the pandemic could be because women often are shouldering greater responsibility for childcare and housework.

"In lockdown, men were told by their bosses: 'OK, work between 9 and 6'. Women were told by understanding bosses: 'I know you have childcare issues so work around that', which meant they ended up doing a lot more. Not all negotiated with their partners for equal responsibility," Ms Leimon told The National.

“Women worry more about getting it perfect and so, according to human resources, they are working much longer hours, not knowing when to stop. Women also have a tendency to make less time for their own needs, which come down the list after everyone else's by which time they are too knackered or have no motivation left.”

Women might also feel less satisfied with life because they are typically more social than men, Ms Leimon added.

Impact on work

The ONS report also looked at the lockdown habits of men and women in Britain and concerns around the impact of the virus on their work life.

It found that men and women often had different concerns about the effects of Covid-19 on their work.

Covid-19 concerns

While the main concern for both sexes was that the pandemic would lead to an increase in hours (19 per cent men, 20 per cent women), women were more likely to report they were concerned about their health and safety at work (16 per cent compared with 9 per cent). They were also more likely to be concerned by the fact they had been furloughed (14 per cent compared with 9 per cent).

Redundancy during the pandemic was also found to be of more concern to women than men.

Around one in seven men and women said they were most concerned by the fact they had asked to work from home (16 per cent of men, 14 per cent of women) or by finding working from home difficult (16 per cent of men, 14 per cent of women).

Impact on social life

Around four in 10 adults surveyed in that November period felt comfortable leaving their homes amid the pandemic. This proportion was lower among women (32 per cent) than men (45 per cent).

There were some differences, however, in the most common reasons men and women left their homes. Women were less likely than men to have left home to collect takeaway food or drinks from a restaurant, bar or pub, but were more likely to have done so to meet people in a public place, take children or young people to school or college or to go shopping for food and medicine.

Of those who had met people to socialise, women (68 per cent) were slightly more likely than men (63 per cent) to always maintain social distancing when with someone outside of their support bubble. This pattern has been consistent throughout the pandemic.