During the pandemic working hours increased for women, but fell for men, study shows

Women’s working hours rose by 1.1pc, coinciding with a rise in remote working.

A new report shows that men’s average hours of work fell by 1.4pc between 2019 and 2022.

“This resulted in a narrowing of the gender gap in paid working hours,” it says.

“While this may be good news for women’s economic inequality, it may also lead to greater work-family conflict if there is no related reduction in hours of unpaid work,” according to the study by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Economic and Social Research Institute, to be published today.

It says the finding highlights the need for good data on unpaid work in Ireland, particularly when considering gender equality in the labour market.

The report, “The Equality Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Irish Labour Market”, finds some groups are less likely to work remotely. They are the lowest educated people and those living in rural areas. Lone parents are also less likely to work remotely.

Workers in Dublin are much more likely to work from home than in any other region. The greatest increases in remote working were in IT and financial services and for workers in professional and clerical support jobs.

Employment rates rose for almost all groups analysed post pandemic, while unemployment and labour market inactivity generally fell. Employment improved for some disabled people, but fell further for those who identified as “strongly limited” in their activities.

While employment recovered, the pattern of inequalities that existed before the pandemic were the same afterwards.

Disabled people’s economic activation pre- and post-pandemic shows little change.

Younger workers were ­initially more negatively impacted, but their employment rate rose more than other age groups after the pandemic.

The study notes that the Irish Government recently announced it will hold a Covid-19 inquiry, but has not published the terms of reference.

The report says the recovery in the labour market post pandemic has been remarkable given the severe nature of the shock.

It says it is likely the recovery was facilitated by the large-scale state intervention during the pandemic in terms of employment and social welfare supports.