Changes in work-related stressors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: differences by gender and parental status

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic changed people’s working conditions worldwide and research suggests increases in work stressors. However, it is not known to what extent these changes differ by gender or parental status. In the present study, we investigate trends in work stressors and whether these differ by gender and parental status. METHODS: We used cross-sectional time series data of the European Working Conditions Survey of 2015 and Living, Working and COVID-19 survey of spring 2020 to examine trends in work stressors by gender and parental status. Work stressors were working in leisure time, lack of psychological detachment and work–life conflict. We applied three-way multilevel regressions reporting prevalence ratios and reported predicted probabilities and average marginal effects to show trends and differences in changes in work stressors. RESULTS: Our multilevel regression results showed elevated prevalence ratios during the pandemic for working leisure time (PR: 1.43, 95% CI 1.34–1.53), psychological detachment (PR: 1.70, 95% CI 1.45–1.99) and work–life conflict (PR: 1.29, 95% CI 1.17–1.43) compared to before the pandemic. Except for working in leisure time, the increase was more significant among women and mothers. The proportion of work–life conflict in 2020 was 20.7% (95% CI 18.7–22.9) for men and 25.8% (95% CI 24.0–27.6) for women, equalling a difference of 5.1% (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence that work stressors increased disproportionately for women and mothers. This needs to be monitored and addressed to prevent widening gender inequalities in the quality of work. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00420-022-01933-w.