Research finds female employees hardest hit by Pandemic and working from home

A review of research in organizational and workplace psychology conducted by an international team of academics has revealed the implications of working from home for women has been more disruptive. The review paper, entitled:- 'Covid19 and the Workplace: Implications, Issues, and Insights for Future Research and Action' and originally published in American Psychologist, features urgent insight from UCL School of Management Professor, Sunny Lee into the sex and gender related implications of changes in work practices that have taken place over the course of 2020.

The review of research indicates the impact of the Pandemic differs by demographic characteristics, such as gender. The paper reveals two key implications on the workplace; the 1st that work from home models will increase and continue Post Pandemic and the second that although men are more likely to face direct health threats from Covid19, women are more likely to be affected by the adverse social and economic costs.

The authors of the paper believe that face to face working will re-emerge Post Pandemic, but will most likely return in a hybrid form which mixes face to face work with virtual work. Prior research has suggested that hybrid forms of working such as this are effective in increasing employees' productivity, satisfaction, and psychological wellbeing. And even with the option to work on an entirely remote basis, employees may choose to come to office regularly given humans' strong social motives to connect with others.

Although working from home has turned out to increase productivity for some workers, it does also come with downsides. For example, research shows some workers are being burned out as they have to juggle caring for their children or other family members while working from home, whilst some employees feel distress and loneliness as they struggle with blurring work/non-work boundaries and miss out on social opportunities.

Given that working from home is likely to increase in the years which follow the Covid19 Pandemic, the negative consequences of such models will continue unless addressed. The review paper found gender and sex to be an influential moderating factor.

Prior research has shown that in households where t2 partners are employed, women typically engage in household tasks more than men. And during national lockdowns and the closure of Schools, the burden of household tasks tends to increase for couples with children as they become compelled to assist with children's virtual learning.

Therefore, although working from home may increase overall productivity among employees, work may be substantially more disrupted for women, particularly those who have children. Indeed, a recent research (Feng and Savani, 2020) study showed that during the Pandemic, among couples who are both employed, women's productivity was more disrupted and women felt more dissatisfied with their job. Additionally, the research showed due to their empathy and communal orientation, women, compared to men, may feel more isolated and stressed by working from home. A recent survey on 996 U.K. healthcare workers found that more females are experiencing emotional distress amid the Pandemic (IPPR, 2020).

Sunny Lee, 1 of the paper's authors and an Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour at the UCL School of Management, said:- "The research has shown that the work from home model has been a success for many companies forced to close their offices during the Pandemic. However, we can see on a day to day basis the pressure this is putting on women to find a balance in their productivity and home life and this something organisations need to be sensitive to if this model is here to stay. Interestingly, one of the emerging trends we observed was the success of female leaders in handling this crisis, with leaders such as Jacinda Arden, Angela Merkel and Tsa Ing-Wen able to flourish in these uncertain environments. Going into 2021 organisations need to be aware of creating the right environment, 1 which is sensitive to the needs of both men and women, so that everyone's skills are able to flourish during times of uncertainty."

The paper:- "Covid19 and the workplace - Implications, issues, and insights for future research and action" was published in American Psychologist on the 4 of July 2020 and is available here:- https://psyarxiv.com/gkwme. 

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LGA responds to provisional 2021/22 Local Government Finance Settlement

RESPONDING to the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2021/22, Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the Local Government Association, said:- "It is good to see that today’s provisional settlement provides extra money to meet Covid19 costs, new funding for adult and children’s social care and for Councils with responsibility for services such as:- homelessness, planning, recycling and refuse collection which will help meet cost and demand pressures next year. There is also the potential to increase Council core spending power by up to 4.5% in 2021/22 to support vital local services. However, more than 85% of the potential core funding increase next year is dependent on Councils increasing Council Tax by up to 5% next year. This leaves Councils facing the tough choice about whether to increase bills to bring in desperately needed funding to protect services at a time when we are acutely aware of the significant burden that could place on some households. The ability to bring in extra Council Tax remains a sticking plaster and not a long term solution. It falls short of the sustainable long term funding that is needed to improve the services our communities and local economies will need to recover from the Pandemic. Councils also need clarity and certainty about how all local services will be funded over the next few years and beyond. Next year we need a t3 year settlement and meaningful progress towards a long term, sustainable solution to the funding crisis our adult social care services continue to face. There must be no further delays to the process of reform. The Government should also use its review of business rates to determine the future of the Tax; which accounts for around a ¼ of all Council spending power; and shift attention towards developing new sources of finance for Councils and different ways of incentivising growth."

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Bill Esterson MP presses Jacob Rees Mogg on plans for January return to school after civil servant says:- "conversations are ongoing"

BILL Esterson, who is the MP for Sefton Central, has pressed the Leader of the House, Jacob Rees Mogg, to explain to parents, children and staff what the arrangements were for returning to School in January. This followed remarks by the senior Civil Servant at the Department for Education who said that the arrangements had not been communicated by Ministers. Mr Esterson asked for the Secretary of State for Education to make a statement to clear up the:- "confusion."

Department for Education Permanent Secretary Susan Acland Hood told the Public Accounts Committee, on Thursday, 17 December 2020, that there were no plans to lengthen the Christmas School holiday, but when pressed by the chair Meg Hillier MP to confirm that pupils would be returning as planned in the 1st week of January, Ms Acland Hood said:- "There are conversations going on about how exactly parents and pupils will go back at the beginning of January, but I'm afraid I can't speak to the committee about that." Ms Acland Hood also added that the arrangements had "not been communicated by Ministers."

Mr Esterson asked Jacob Rees Mogg in the House of Commons to clear up the confusion caused by the contradictory statements.

Mr Esterson said:- "Parents, children and School staff need to know now what the arrangements are."

Mr Rees Mogg responded to say that the Government position was that children should be educated physically and to be back at School and that the policy:- "hadn't changed."

However, Head Teachers were told later in the day, Thursday, 17 December 2020, that School re-opening would be delayed, while 5 million children were given rapid turnaround tests for Covid19 before being allowed to return to School.

In an email to Schools on the last day of term, the Education Secretary said that Secondary School pupils would have to be taught remotely for the 1st week back after the Christmas holidays. This u-turn came days after the Government had ordered some Schools to stay open when Head Teachers had wanted to move to online learning before Christmas because of high infection rates.

Bill Esterson said:- "Children deserve better than this and so do families and staff. Ministers must give support to Schools where online learning is the only option. But for many children this is not realistic because of their home circumstances. Rapid testing is very important but so is contact tracing and financial support. While we wait for the vaccine to be rolled out, the Government must fix test, trace, isolate and support so that Schools can be open as safely as possible. I just hope that the Government will put the rapid testing arrangements in place so they are ready in all Schools for the New Year. But they must also fill the gaps in tracing and support. Children cannot afford for Ministers to get this wrong. Schools are really worried how they will put arrangements in place for rapid testing over the Christmas Holidays. The Government must help them do so. This is a real concern and a massive undertaking in a short period of time, when staff and their families should be able to have some time off like the rest of us. Why has the Government left this to the last minute? It really is not good enough."

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Local Council candidate Mike Prendergast calls on Sefton Council to treat Southport fairly if Town Deal bid is successful

LOCAL Council candidate Mike Prendergast is calling on Sefton Council to ensure that any funds awarded through the Town Deal does not result in the Local Authority allocating funds to other areas of the borough that would otherwise have been invested in Southport. The Southport Town Deal bid board submitted a ₤50million funding bid to the Government on 31 October, which aims to kickstart the regeneration of the resort. Funds have already been allocated for the revamp of Southport Market and a contribution towards the Southport BID project to provide new decorative lighting along Lord Street. The board also wants to support the construction of a new waterside events centre to replace Southport Theatre, which closed, in March 2020. If successful, the Town Deal initiative will unlock an estimated ₤300million of further private investment which will create hundreds of jobs and benefit businesses across Sefton. Mr Prendergast is calling for Southport to be treated fairly by Sefton Council if the Town Deal bid, or some of the projects contained within it, are approved by the Government early 2021.

The Conservative Dukes Ward candidate said:- "Southport has a fantastic opportunity to reinvent itself with the potential for tens of millions of pounds to be made available from the Government and even larger sums from the private sector. The hard work of the Town Deal board and our local MP Damien Moore should be applauded for making all of this possible. However, a successful Town Deal bid and potential for further private investment should not be used as a reason for the Labour led Sefton Council to divert funds away from Southport to other areas of the borough to fund, what could be described as, commercially questionable projects, as we've seen in the not too distant past. Southport residents pay some of the highest Council Tax rates in the borough and our Town's local businesses help make Southport one of the most economically vibrant areas of Sefton. Collectively Southport helps to raise tens of millions of pounds each year for the Local Authority and Southport needs a commitment from the relevant Cabinet members at Sefton Council that more of the funds raised in Southport will be spent in our Town."

Southport Conservative MP Damien Moore said:- "The Town Deal funding has the potential to be the biggest single investment seen in Southport for generations and is designed to reverse 20 years of neglect in Southport. This opportunity has been made possible thanks to the Conservative Government and the Southport Town Deal bid board has submitted a very credible bid for funding. If successful, the benefits will be felt across the borough. I urge Sefton Council to commit to allocating its resources to Southport and the rest of the borough in a fair and proportionate manner to ensure value to the people and businesses who pay their Council Tax and other levies to the Local Authority."

The outcome of Southport's application to the ₤3.6 billion Towns Fund is expected to be announced in early 2021.