"Keeping work going as well as caring for our children has been challenging"
Published: 28 May 2020
Social Science Fellow Dr Chris Bunn describes managing the competing demands of working and family life during the COVID-19 lockdown
Social Science Fellow Dr Chris Bunn describes managing the competing demands of working and family life
Like so many people up and down the country, my wife and I have been juggling working from home with childcare. We have a 6 year old and a 9 month old baby and split our days evenly, so that we both get a half day working. It’s been challenging meeting the needs of two children at very different stages of development. Our baby needs constant attention, not least since she started crawling, and our eldest needs steering towards his school work and away from the games on his tablet. The two tasks are not always achievable simultaneously!
Keeping work on the road at the same time as caring for our children has been challenging. My wife is finishing her PhD while at the same time remaining connected to the university she works at in Malawi. I’ve been marking undergraduate work, supervising PGT and PGR students, and using whatever time is left to keep research work moving. For both of us, however, the challenge and stress of balancing our work and children has been offset by a silver lining: we’ve seen much more of our baby’s development than either of us would have in more usual times.
Chris Bunn
Social Science Fellow (IHW)
First published: 28 May 2020
<< May 2020