The great moments of crisis experienced over the last hundred years have represented a turning point in the participation of women in the labour market. Similarly to what happened after the Second World War, which saw an increase in women's participation in the labour market, it was initially thought that confinement would allow a redefinition of the division between paid productive work and unpaid reproductive work in couples. As telecommuting was imposed for health reasons where it was feasible, it was hypothesised that in couples, women and men would share the division of care and housekeeping work more equally, consequently promoting more equal participation between women and men in the labour market as well.

"In reality, this assumption did not materialise. Already during the pandemic, despite the fact that both women and men teleworked a great deal and that all parents had to cope with considerable care work as schools were closed, gender differences still emerged,' explains Danuscia Tschudi, senior researcher at the Competence Centre for Labour, Welfare and Social Research of the Department of Business Economics, Health and Social Care at SUPSI. "It was found in the SOTOMO study carried out in Switzerland that women reduced their ability to work more than men in order to cope with family commitments and that the mental burden of care although high for women and men remained important for women even when schools were reopened. Why has there not been a large-scale change in the division between paid work and care work within couples? "For this to happen, care work should be revalorised, this would facilitate its fairer sharing within families". 

What about teleworking?
In 2020, during the pandemic, compulsory teleworking was practised in similar proportions by women and men. Two years later, with the pandemic emergency over, the percentages are different. In an article by Tiziano Gerosa and Danuscia Tschudi, which appeared in November 2022 in the journal Dati of the Office for Statistics of the Canton of Ticino, it emerged that teleworking (whether occasional, regular or habitual) is carried out to a greater extent in Switzerland by men (41% of employed versus 36% of employed women) who have a partner but no children under the age of 14. "Researchers Weichbrodt and Soltermann explain that there are fewer women teleworkers because they are more present in professional sectors where this mode of work is less practicable and are in the minority in positions of responsibility where teleworking is more widespread," Danuscia Tschudi points out. "The fact that the majority of people who telework do not have children, on the other hand, can be explained by the fact that the motivations behind teleworking include not only the reconciliation of family and work, but also the desire to reduce home-work journeys and to better perform certain activities that require particular concentration". 

It is noted, however, that in Ticino the percentage of women and men teleworking, although lower than nationally, is practically equivalent (31% of employed persons, 29% of employed persons), does this mean that teleworking is applied more equally in the canton than nationally? "To answer this, one would have to investigate at the cantonal level the reasons why women and men request teleworking and the reasons why employers do or do not agree to this mode of work. This difference, however, is questionable because it would appear to be attributable to fewer men in Ticino teleworking on a regular basis (below 50% of the degree of employment) than is the case nationally. In Switzerland, all types of telework (occasional, regular, habitual) are chosen more by men, whereas in Ticino regular telework is chosen by 55% of women and 45% of men. Another singular aspect is the fact that although the majority of those who adopt teleworking do not have children, in Ticino there are more women than men among those who have children and engage in regular teleworking, whereas the opposite is true nationally".

"Teleworking can certainly be a way of facilitating the reconciliation of family and work provided, however, that the risk of overloading is reduced and that teleworking does not become synonymous with invisibility at work. Equal opportunities in a hybrid working environment will only be guaranteed if teleworking can be requested by both women and men for different reasons without fearing that it will have negative repercussions on careers due to stereotypes that still associate this working mode with a form of disengagement" Danuscia Tschudi concludes.