“You can’t keep this up in the long run,” says the mother of two. Not for many weeks, and certainly not for months. The juggling act between working from home, childcare, housework, and schoolwork is wearing her down.
The strain on many families during the COVID-19 crisis is immense. The prolonged closures of daycare centers and schools are presenting working parents with previously unimagined challenges. “I’m running out of energy,” fears the Siemens employee in Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, who wishes to remain anonymous.
The metalworker’s workdays
… have looked the same since mid-March: She gets up at 5 a.m.—the administrative assistant works from home from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.—followed by helping her son with his schoolwork —lunch doesn’t make itself, either—then it’s back to her desk to tackle math problems and division problems and to look after her daughter—then she prepares dinner for the family—afterward, she boots up her Siemens computer again and works until around 9 p.m.—then it’s time to put away toys and vacuum the apartment.
Around 10:00 p.m., she falls into bed, completely exhausted. Whatever she doesn’t manage to get done for work, she catches up on Friday—her day off, in theory.
Rest is out of the question
On the weekend, household chores also await—the family recently built a house. Her husband, a manager in the public sector, is extremely busy dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Neither of them can even think about relaxation.
The youngest child is of daycare age and, because of the many family responsibilities, is “unfortunately often sidelined at the moment,” the mother laments. Her son is not expected to return to school until after the Pentecost break—and even then, only for two to three hours, and only on a weekly basis. The mother emphasizes: “That won’t make our situation much easier. After all, the summer and fall breaks will be right around the corner by then.”
Works Council Secures Additional Days Off
The strain is immense, and any support is welcome. The IG Metall works council at Siemens was able to secure a provision in a company-wide agreement allowing part-time employees to take additional days off on a pro-rata basis in lieu of the collective bargaining bonus (T-Zug A). The metalworker makes use of this entitlement when her energy is particularly low: “Those extra days off keep me afloat.”
“We have to support parents as best we can with additional leave provisions,” says Alexandra Schlager, works council chair at Siemens in Rastatt. “This extremely stressful situation, which has been going on for months, is weighing heavily on many female employees in particular, because they are predominantly the ones caring for the children. But male colleagues are also approaching us with requests. The situation here, too, is almost impossible to manage.”
Emergency family assistance is needed now
IG Metall is also advocating for working mothers and fathers at the political level. Continued pay for parents who currently have to care for their children at home must be improved and guaranteed for as long as daycare centers and schools are not fully reopened for all children.
At the same time, the federal and state governments must work to expand childcare options—to the extent that the infection situation allows. IG Metall calls on employers to support employees in this ongoing crisis through flexible work arrangements—whether at the workplace or while working from home.
A calculation by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) illustrates the magnitude of the problem for society as a whole caused by weeks of school and daycare closures. “The total loss of work due to daycare and school closures for these parents amounts to an estimated 55.8 million workdaysby the end of April, ”the authors write. The effect is so significant that it is equivalent to every working person in Germany having worked 1.2 days less.
Flexible Work Schedules
In any case, the Siemens employee is grateful that her employer allows her to work so flexibly throughout the day: “I have a great supervisor who understands my situation. And for many families right now, it’s only working thanks to creative temporary solutions and flexible work schedules.”
But are there any concrete ways out of this critical childcare situation? “Theoretically, I could take unpaid leave,” says the mother of two, “but then we’d face major financial worries because we still have to pay off our mortgage.” The strain of working from home, childcare, housework, and schoolwork continues.
