Gender-Related Issues Among Women Raising Children Based on Before and After Pandemic Comparisons: A Cross-Sectional Study

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-3746419/v1

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Gender-Related Issues Among Women Raising Children Based on Before and After Pandemic Comparisons: A Cross-Sectional Study

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3746419/v1

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Background: Despite being embraced worldwide, gender equality has not been achieved in child care activities. Pandemics can negatively affect the health of women engaged in child-rearing. We surveyed women raising children before and after the pandemic. The purpose of this study was to identify the impacts on stress and fatigue levels of women through a comparison of surveys before and after the pandemic and obtain basic materials required for women to play an active role in society and to achieve gender equality.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, women (n=150) with children aged 0–3 years were surveyed at a child-rearing support facility before and after the pandemic to determine their basic attributes, and identify situations where they experienced anger and fatigue during child-rearing.

Results: The number of women who worked or took childcare leave increased significantly after pandemic (p=0.025). There were no significant differences in stress and fatiguebefore and after the pandemic.A decreased number of women become angry when their children cluttered up the house (p=0.031) or gave them a difficult time going home (p=0.008) after pandemic.

Conclusions: Women’s stress and fatigue did not differ during the pandemic, as more women did not get angry about their children after the pandemic. Women raising children had racks of sleep and fatigue accumulation regardless of the pandemic. Rapidly solving the challenges faced by women in raising children will achieve gender equality.

Childcare

Gender Equality

Anger

Stress

Fatigue

Pandemic

Gender ideologies differ according to state policies on work and family [1]. Parental beliefs also differ according to the parents’ level of education and cultural sphere [2]. In the 1990s, the number of nuclear families in Japan increased and Japanese women began to advance in society because of inclusion of gender equality in the Employment Act. Despite changes in the family structure, women are still primarily engaged in child-rearing and experience considerable childcare-related stress. Japan witnessed a major decline in birth rate and population. As a result, the Japanese government implemented childcare support measures, such as angel plans. To prevent population decline, the Japanese government considered promoting women in the workplace to maintain Japanese labor. This initiative has caused numerous children to wait in nursery schools. Japanese women’s managerial post rates were poorer than those in other countries [3], and women could not be active in Japan.

In 2015, the United Nations announced its Sustainable Development Goals, 17 of which should be achieved by 2030. The goals include gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls [4]. More than 60% of the Japanese population rejects the notion that men should work and women should stay at home [5]. Hence, gender equality status is changing in society.

However, in contradiction of gender equality, women are still largely responsible for housework and childcare. In a survey involving Japanese men and women, 80% respondents opined that men enjoy more privileges [3], and more women than men felt this [3]. Although the number of Japanese men doing housework and childcare has increased, it is still lower than that in Europe and the United States [6]. Couples with preschool children spent more time on childcare and housework, but women spent more than twice as much time on these activities as men [5]. Women are responsible for housework and childcare and their responsibilities do not decrease as their children grow up [5].

Women with young children experience cumulative stress related to childcare because raising and bringing up their children is a new experience for them. The isolation of women raising children is a major problem in Japan [7], and women do not have sufficient opportunities to relieve their stress or share worries associated with childcare.

The COVID-19 pandemic began in December 2019 and negatively impacted the physical and social health of women, due to various factors such as limited work, changes in response to pregnancy and childbirth, and increased domestic violence [8]. The pandemic was also the period when worst mental health state was recognized among women. Women were unable to give birth in the company of their husbands and did not receive visitors because of the pandemic. Also, after childbirth, women could not spend enough time in the hospital and did not get the chance to receive childcare support from healthcare providers. As a result, the number of new mothers with symptoms of depression and anxiety increased during the pandemic [9].

Previous studies that evaluated the effects of the pandemic on women and found that pandemic increased their stress levels [10]. The government recommended work hour reduction and telecommuting to control the pandemic. As a result, women worked from home as well as cared for their children, leading to increased stress and fatigue. However, women’s isolation has always been an issue, even before the pandemic. Moreover, studies assessing the impact of the spread of infectious diseases on women were mostly conducted during the pandemic. Therefore, whether women experienced stress and fatigue even before the pandemic or whether it occurred as a result of the pandemic remains unknown.

The purpose of this study was to identify impacts on stress and fatigue levels of women, though the results of surveys conducted before and after the pandemic, and obtain basic materials required for women to play an active role in society and to achieve gender equality.

Data collection and analysis

During May 1 to July 31, 2017 and October 1 to November 30, 2021, an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted enrolling 150 participants at a non-profit Child Care Support Facility A (referred to as the square) for project reporting and budget planning purposes. The Japanese government has encouraged the establishment of child-rearing support facilities as part of the maternal and child healthcare programs. Mothers can use the square to raise their children aged 0–3 years. The responses obtained were used secondarily with the permission of a representative of the nonprofit organization.

The 2021 survey was completed by 116 (77.3%) of the 150 respondents. Ninety-seven participants (64.7%) who provided complete responses were included in the analysis. One hundred and three (68.7%) of the 150 respondents to who took part in the 2017 survey responded to the 2021 survey. Ninety-three participants (62.0%) who provided complete responses were included in the analysis.

Contents of the survey

The survey items included basic attributes (mother’s age, family structure, childcare support, working status, frequency of using the square, sleep duration, wake-up time, and presence or absence of childcare problems), anger triggered by situations, childcare fatigue, and a sense of urgency.

Situations triggering anger were configured for 10 daily childcare situations: 1. when the child does not get up easily in the morning; 2. when the child has a hard time sleeping at night; 3. when the child wakes up in the middle of the night; 4. when the child takes long to finish a meal; 5. when the child eats only what he/she likes and leaves behind what he/she dislikes; 6. when the child does not easily change clothes, 7. when the child has a difficult bathing; 8. when the child clutters up the house; 9. when the child does not go home easily, even when it is time to go home; and 10. when the child cries for extended periods of time. The participants responded to each of those situations with “I get angry.” “I get angry sometimes.” or “I do not get angry.”

For childcare fatigue, a questionnaire assessing feelings of drowsiness, instability, uneasiness, localized or dull pain, and eye strain was used, as previously described [11].

The sense of urgency was calculated using three scales of the Japanese version of the Type A Questionnaire for Japanese adults: “aggression/hostility”, “hard-driving-time urgency, and “speed-power.” The 16 items of “vigorous activity and time urgency” were used among the three scales of “aggression and hostility,” “vigorous activity and urgency,” and “speed and intensity of action [12].” The participants responded to each of these situations with “yes,” “both,” or “no.” We assigned “yes,” “both,” and “no” scores on a scale of 2, 1, and 0, and compared the total scores.

Data Analysis

We conducted a cross-sectional survey. The 2021 and 2017 surveys had a common set of questions. For the questions about situations that make them angry, we combined “I get angry sometimes.” with “I get angry” and used a two-tailed method with “I don’t get angry” and “I maybe get angry.” A chi-square test was conducted for the two test questions. The mothers’ age, sleeping duration, childcare fatigue, and sense of urgency were tested for normality using the Shapiro –Wilk test, and items with normality were subjected to an uncorrelated t-test. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 25.0. The significance level for all tests was set at < 5%.

Ethical approval and informed consent

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Hiroshima University (approval no. E-962-1) and conducted in accordance with the principles of the　Declaration of Helsinki. The participants were given a verbal explanation and a written explanation in advance. Submission of the completed questionnaire at the designated location was regarded as consent to participate in the survey and publish of the results, informed consent was obtained from all participates by the head of the non-profit organization. Permission to use the data was obtained from the head of the non-profit organization.

Characteristics of the respondents

Table 1 presents the main characteristics of study participants. Significant differences were observed in the working status between the two groups, referred to as “before the pandemic,” in 2017 and “after the pandemic” in 2021. Before and after the pandemic, the average mothers' ages were 33.3±4.49 and 33.0±5.17 years, respectively. Significantly more participants were either working or taking childcare leave after the pandemic than before the pandemic (p=0.025). Regarding family members living together, 97.8% and 94.8% participants lived in a nuclear family before and after the pandemic, respectively. In contrast, presence of extended family members was reported by 2.20% and 5.20% respondents, respectively.

More than 90% participants lived in the nuclear families. Before and after the pandemic, 24.7% and 29.9% mothers drove less than an hour to someone they relied on for childcare and other needs, respectively. The proportions of mothers who drove at least one hour by car were 75.3% and 70.1%, respectively. Approximately 70% mothers relied on someone within an hour’s drive or more for childcare. Before and after the pandemic, 52.7% and 53.9% mothers used a square fewer than four times per month, respectively. Before and after the pandemic, the sense of urgency scores were 12.5±5.91 and 12.3±6.23.

Comparison before and after the pandemic

Table 2 summarizes the situations where mothers experienced anger during parenting. When children cluttered up the house before and after the pandemic, 49.5% and 34.0% of mothers get angry, respectively. When their children refused to go home easily, 44.1% and 25.8% of the mothers get angry, respectively. There were significant differences between before and after the pandemic when children cluttered up the house and when they refused to go home easily (p=0.031, p=0.008).

The number of mothers who show anger decreased after the pandemic. Furthermore, 7.5% and 4.1% mothers before and after the pandemic, respectively, were angry when their children did not get up easily in the morning. When their children had difficulty sleeping at night, 48.4% and 39.2% mothers experienced anger before and after the pandemic, respectively. Furthermore, 9.7% and 10.3% mothers get angry when their children woke up in the middle of the night, 64.5% and 56.7% of mothers get angry when their children took a long time to finish a meal, and 49.5% and 40.2% of mothers get angry when their children ate only what they liked and left behind what they disliked before and after the pandemic, respectively. Moreover, 48.4% and 37.1% of mothers get angry when their children could not easily change their clothes; 34.4% and 24.7% mothers get angry when their children had a hard time taking a bath; and 29.0% and 21.6% mothers get angry when their children cried for extended periods of time before and after the pandemic, respectively.

Table 3 shows the mean scores for the subjective feelings of childcare-related fatigue before and after the pandemic. All mean fatigue scores decreased from before to after the pandemic. No significant differences were observed between groups. The scores before and after the pandemic were 13.4±5.13 and 13.3±4.60 for drowsiness, 10.5±4.60 and 9.8±4.35 for instability, 9.3±4.23 and 8.8±3.48 for uneasiness, 11.6±4.14 and 11.1±4.46 for localized or dull pain, and 9.0±4.21 and 8.6±3.69 for eyestrain.

We examined the main features of the mothers participating in surveys and compared the results before and after the pandemic to examine their daily child-rearing situations and fatigue. There were no significant differences in fatigue among women. Highlighting that women raising children continue to face fatigue-related challenges regardless of the prevalence of the pandemic. The pandemic has brought new challenges for women with respect to their daily parenting situations, indicating that women face challenges in carving out time for themselves because of gender-based differences in parenting methods and responsibilities.

The following is a summary of the background of the subjects of the two surveys. Notably, significant differences were observed in the number of working women who used squares. No significant differences were observed in the backgrounds or lives of the other participants.

Background of the subjects

The average age of the women in this study was close to the average age at the childbirth in Japan, reflecting the current situation in Japan [13]. More than 90% participants had nuclear families and approximately 5% participants belonged to three-generation families. In Japan, 82.5% nuclear families and 13.3% three-generation families raise children [14]. This study represents the current general situation in Japan. Distance that mothers had to cover to reach childcare support providers did not differ significantly before or after the pandemic. For >70% mothers childcare support was more than an hour’s drive away. During the pandemic, restrictions on movement as part of infection control measures made it even more challenging for mothers to access childcare support systems. Furthermore, the square was closed and the number of users was restricted to curb the pandemic. Since human connections help to alleviate worries [15], the pandemic exacerbated worrying for women raising children; 80% of women who participated in the surveys experienced childcare-related problems. They may not have received adequate childcare support from childcare providers or from the square compared to before the pandemic. The average sleep duration was 6.4 h before and 6.3 h during the pandemic. Sleep duration and wake-up time were not significantly different before and during the pandemic. The sleeping time for Japanese women was 7.35 h in 2016 and 7.49 h in 2021 [16]; therefore, the study participants had an hour less of sleep than the average Japanese women. Overall, women raising children sleep less, regardless of the pandemic. Regarding waking time, more than 70% participants woke up at a fixed time before the pandemic, but this number decreased after the pandemic. Delays in falling asleep and waking up were reported during the pandemic [17], which may have caused a shift in chronobiological rhythms for women. This may have been exacerbated by remote working setup and restrictions on going out and mostly staying indoor during pandemic, which may have impacted their daily rhythms. Analysis of the number of women who availed the square facility indicated a significant increase in the number of working women or those taking maternity leave during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic. During infectious disease outbreaks, we need to consider the impact of working from home and reducing working hours as part of infectious disease control measures. Immediately after the pandemic, women who were not raising children returned to normal work. However, a high percentage of women who were raising children remained absent from work [18]. Possibly, the number of women who did not avail the square because of work before the pandemic could use that space due to work from home and reduced working hours. Infection prevention measures made women who could not use the square on a week days provide opportunities to use it.

Women’s anger and fatigue of childcare

This study focused on women’s anger as an emotional condition and their levels of fatigue. We examined women’s health issues by examining their daily levels of anger and fatigue. The reasons for focusing on anger are discussed below. Women became angry toward themselves when they were discriminated against because of traditional gender inequalities [19]. Mothers have a responsibility to care for their children, so they get angry frequently when they are unable to regulate the behavior of their children. Difficulty in controlling anger negatively impacts women’s health. Women experience physical and emotional changes during pregnancy and childbirth. After delivery, a woman must take care of the child, in addition to her regular responsibilities. Despite the physical and mental changes associated with pregnancy and childbirth, women are forced to undertake housework and childcare without adequate recovery. As a result, women are at risk of cumulative fatigue, which can lead to additional parenting stress [20].

We discuss the anger of women raising their children in detail. The relationship between the ease of getting angry and sense of urgency has been demonstrated [21]. The average score of sense of urgency for women in this study said clearly that these women were not particularly prone to anger. These were not significantly different before and during the pandemic. These were approximately 12 points, so women did not have a high risk for a sense of time urgency compared to previous studies [22]. The anger levels “when a child clutters up the house” and “does not easily cooperate when it is time to go home” were significantly different. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, few women get angry about childcare during the pandemic. Other parenting situations showed no significant differences in how angry women felt before and after the pandemic. We speculate that mothers did not get angry in these two situations as they no longer had to take their children to and from daycare nor did not go to work because of work from home set up or restrictions on general movement or voluntary refraining from going out as part of infection control measures, which gave them more time to spare. While the women avoid going out, they had extra time for housework and childcare, especially cleaning the house [23]. The pandemic notable reduced the number of times women and their children went out. The square in this study was restricted from use. Other studies said the shopping complex was also closed. During the pandemic, women had no choice but to compromise for their children and did not get angry with childcare because they spent a long time with their children. However, excessive emotional control can lead to high levels of aggression [24]. In this study, not getting angry while taking care of childcare activities means not feeling angry with their children but trying to restrain it, and as a result, women experienced more stress. However, further studies are required to examine the relationship between anger and stress.

Next, we examined the fatigue levels of women before and during the pandemic. The average scores for five groups of “Jikaku-sho shirabe” (group 1: drowsiness, group 2: instability, group 3: Uneasiness, group 4: localized or dull pain; and group 5: eyestrain) did not differ significantly before and after the pandemic. Compared to previous studies, the total score for each group was similar to or higher than that of healthcare workers after the end of the workday [25]. Even before the pandemic, fatigue was high among women raising children, suggesting that women experience fatigue constantly.

Comparing the mean total score for each of the five groups of the scale, the mean total score showed the following pattern: drowsiness > localized or dull pain > instability > uneasiness >eyestrain. The children in the present study were young and unable to care for themselves. Women raising children need to constantly take care of them, cutting into their own sleeping hours to complete the remaining household chores and other things. Drowsiness and localized or dull pain are believed to directly result from fatigue. Other symptoms include pain in specific areas of the body. These symptoms are also associated with the aging [26]. The average age of the participants indicated that the other symptoms did not score higher than feelings of drowsiness and localized or dull pain.

The Group 1 drowsiness subscale asked about the presence or absence of physical and mental symptoms that the women experienced when they were sleepy. The total score was higher because the participants slept less than the average woman, both before and after the pandemic [16]. Sleep challenges among women raising children have been reported in many studies. Women’s sleep quality and children's sleep problems are associated with maternal anger [27]. Ongoing support is needed to overcome sleep deficit for decreasing their anger and it is not emphasized because of the pandemic.

The Group 2 instability subscale asked women about the presence or absence of mental symptoms. We predict that the total instability score will increase when women do not receive enough childcare support. Previous studies have shown that instability is related to social distancing, including from friends, families, and public facilities [7]. We hypothesized that women's instability would increase as people had to limit their interactions with others during the pandemic. We did not refer to previous studies because the results of the total instability score were not significant before and after the pandemic. Before the pandemic, the participants regularly attended the square and received childcare support; however, after the pandemic, they did not receive the childcare support they earlier received due to infection control measures, putting them at risk of increased childcare-related problems and fatigue.

The Group 3 uneasiness subscale asked women about the presence or absence of headaches. In a study investigating the relationship between headaches and the pandemic, patients with migraines reported improved symptoms because they had more opportunities to review their lives by refraining from going out [28]. In this study, women’s instability did not decrease sufficiently; therefore, headache was not affected by the pandemic.

The Group 4 localized or dull pain subscale consisted of numerous physical symptoms. Working mothers also need to care for their children, which causes additional physical fatigue. During the pandemic, women had to care for their children and work all day in their homes. The previous study showed that women spent approximately 3 h on housework, 2 h on child-rearing, and 30 min on themselves before the pandemic [29]. However, they felt that the amount of housework increased, and that the division of household chores was not equal after the pandemic [30].

The group 5 encompassing eyestrain consisted of numerous visual symptoms. During the pandemic, many people experienced eyestrain owing to the use of electronic equipment for extended periods [31]; however, their total eyestrain scores before and after the pandemic did not differ significantly. Our study disproved the hypothesis of increased eye strain due to the use of equipment for extended periods during the pandemic.

In this study, we compared mothers’ parenting environments before and after the pandemic and found that women raising children faced sleep deprivation, and accumulated fatigue since before the pandemic. Fatigue among women raising children were also emphasized during the pandemic, but these problems did not arise specifically due to it.

The government's policy of remote working and restriction on free movement during the pandemic has revealed the following issues related to SDGS No. 5 gender equality; these issues are also relevant to normal times.

During the pandemic, the government encouraged people to work from home, and both men and women adopted remote working. The advantage was that women who were initially unable to use the square because of employment could now use it according to their schedules. An additional benefit was that both men and women could participate in raising their children. However, many men only engaged in housework and childcare to the extent that it did not affect their work [5]. highlighting the differences in child-rearing methods and responsibilities between men and women. There were restrictions on the movement of childcare supporters and the squares were closed. Women lost the childcare support they had previously received and had difficulty relieving their stress. Women had previously made time for themselves by changing locations and time schedules, but the curfew made it difficult for women to switch roles. Daily stress forced women raising children to suppress their anger and continue to suffer chronic fatigue.

Although the study findings suggested that women raising children had difficulty taking out time for themselves at all the times, the difficulty negatively affected their levels of anger and fatigue. Existing literature emphasizes this as an effect of the pandemic [8,9,10] but our study did not suggest. Our study highlights specific points that need to be improved immediately in relation to gender equality in parenting households. Responsibilities and burdens which women raise children must be spread for achieving gender equality of childcare.

The study was limited by the small number of participants as only one childcare support facility was involved. As this was a cross-sectional study, we could not examine the characteristics of the same individuals or the changes over time. Due to the secondary use of data from specific child-rearing support facilities, the sample population was limited to facility users, and hence, this does not include the actual situation of mothers who are unavailable. Further investigations are needed to evaluate these parameters in mothers who do not take advantage of available resources.

Comparing the results of a survey of women raising children before and after the pandemic examined parenting-related stress and fatigue levels among women. Women raising children had high levels on their stress and fatigue regardless of the pandemic. They have always been problem racks of sleep and fatigue accumulation. To achieve gender equality in childcare, the responsibilities and burdens on women raising children need to be spread.

Ethical Approval and consent to participate

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by Ethics Committee of Hiroshima University (approval no. E-962-1). The participants were given a verbal explanation and a written explanation in advance and assured that the content of the study would not be used for any other purpose. Submission of the completed questionnaire at the designated Location was regarded as consent to participate in the survey and publish of the results, informed consent was obtained from all participates by the head of the non-profit organization. Permission to use the data was obtained from the head of the non-profit organization.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Data availability statement

The dataset generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to promised confidentiality to study participants but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding

This study received no external funding.

Authors’ contributions

SN and HK substantially contributed to study conceptualization. SN made significant contributions to the data analysis and interpretation. HK and SY made significant contributions to the design of the work and the interpretation of data. SN substantially contributed to the manuscript drafting. SY, MM, ZC, SM and LY made substantial contributions to the interpretation of the data and critically revised the manuscript. HK managed and supervised this research project. All authors approved the final version of manuscript to be published.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank NPO childcare support facilities, and we would like to thank all mothers and children who have voluntarily participated in the present study.

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Table 1

Characteristics of Mothers (N = 93,97).
Characteristics	2017	2021	p-value
Mother's age	33.3 ± 4.49	33.0 ± 5.17	&0.638
Family structure
Nuclear family	91(97.8%)	92(94.8%)	#0.272
Extended family	2(2.2%)	5(5.2%)	#0.272
Distance of people you can rely on for childcare
By car under 1 hours	23(24.7%)	29(29.9%)	#0.425
By car at least 1 hours	70(75.3%)	68(70.1%)	#0.425
Do you have childcare supporters?
Having	91(97.8%)	94(96.9%)	&0.520
Not having	2(2.2%)	3(3.1%)	&0.520
Working status
Working or on childcare leave	19(20.4%)	34(35.1%)	#0.025
Not working	74(79.6%)	63(64.9%)	#0.025
Frequency of using the square
Less than four times a month	49(52.7%)	62(63.9%)	#0.116
At least four times a month	44(47.3%)	35(36.1%)	#0.116
Sleep duration	6.4 ± 1.10	6.3 ± 1.00	&0.368
Wake-up time
The same time	69(74.2%)	66(68.0%)	#0.350
Irregular times	24(25.8%)	31(32.0%)	#0.350
presence or absence of childcare problems
Yes	63(67.7%)	74(76.3%)	#0.189
No	30(32.3%)	23(23.7%)	#0.189
Sense of time urgency	12.5 ± 5.91	12.3 ± 6.23	&0.805
Note: # means a chi-square-test. & Means t-test without correspondence or Wilcoxon’s rank-sum test.

Table 2

Anger triggered by situations(N = 93,97).
Anger Situations	2017	2021	p-value
When the child does not get up easily in the morning
I don't get angry	86(92.5%)	93(95.9%)	0.315
I maybe get angry	7(7.5%)	4(4.1%)	0.315
When the child has hard time sleeping at night
I don’t get angry	48(51.6%)	59(60.8%)	0.201
I maybe get angry	45(48.4%)	38(39.2%)	0.201
When the child wakes up in the middle of the night
I don’t get angry	84(90.3%)	87(89.7%)	0.885
I maybe get angry	9(9.7%)	10(10.3%)	0.885
When the child takes long to finish a meal
I don’t get angry	33(35.5%)	42(43.3%)	0.271
I maybe get angry	60(64.5%)	55(56.7%)	0.271
When the child eats only what he/she likes and leaves behind what he/she dislikes
I don’t get angry	47(50.5%)	58(59.8%)	0.200
I maybe get angry	46(49.5%)	39(40.2%)	0.200
When the child does not easily change clothes
I don’t get angry	48(51.6%)	61(62.9%)	0.116
I maybe get angry	45(48.4%)	36(37.1%)	0.116
When the child has a difficult bathing
I don’t get angry	61(65.6%)	73(75.3%)	0.144
I maybe get angry	32(34.4%)	24(24.7%)	0.144
When the child clutters up the house
I don’t get angry	47(50.5%)	64(66.0%)	0.031
I maybe get angry	46(49.5%)	33(34.0%)	0.031
When the child does not go home easily, even when it is time to go home
I don’t get angry	52(55.9%)	72(74.2%)	0.008
I maybe get angry	41(44.1%)	25(25.8%)	0.008
When the child cries for extended periods of time
I don’t get angry	66(71.0%)	76(78.4%)	0.242
I maybe get angry	27(29.0%)	21(21.6%)	0.242

Table 3

Mean scores of subjective feelings of childcare fatigue.
Fatigue	2017	2021	p-value
Drowsiness	13.4 ± 5.13	13.3 ± 4.60	0.906
Instability	10.5 ± 4.60	9.8 ± 4.35	0.364
Uneasiness	9.3 ± 4.23	8.8 ± 3.48	0.642
Localized or dull pain	11.6 ± 4.14	11.1 ± 4.46	0.252
Eyestrain	9.0 ± 4.21	8.6 ± 3.69	0.716

No competing interests reported.

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Gender-Related Issues Among Women Raising Children Based on Before and After Pandemic Comparisons: A Cross-Sectional Study

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