By Default: How Mothers in Different-Sex Dual-Earner Couples Account for Inequalities in Pandemic Parenting

Mothers did a disproportionate share of the child care during the COVID-19 pandemic—an arrangement that negatively impacted their careers, relationships, and well-being. How did mothers account for these unequal roles? Through interviews and surveys with 55 mothers (and 14 fathers) in different-sex, prepandemic dual-earner couples, we found that mothers (and fathers) justified unequal parenting arrangements based on gendered structural and cultural conditions that made mothers’ disproportionate labor seem “practical” and “natural.” These justifications allowed couples to rely on mothers by default rather than through active negotiation. As a result, many mothers did not feel entitled to seek support with child care from fathers or nonparental caregivers and experienced guilt if they did so. These findings help explain why many mothers have not reentered the workforce, why fathers’ involvement at home waned as the pandemic progressed, and why the pandemic led to growing preferences for inegalitarian divisions of domestic and paid labor

A county-level cross-sectional analysis of positive deviance to assess multiple population health outcomes in Indiana

Objective: To test a positive deviance method to identify counties that are performing better than statistical expectations on a set of population health indicators. Design: Quantitative, cross-sectional county-level secondary analysis of risk variables and outcomes in Indiana. Data are analysed using multiple linear regression to identify counties performing better or worse than expected given traditional risk indicators, with a focus on ‘positive deviants’ or counties performing better than expected. Participants: Counties in Indiana (n=92) constitute the unit of analysis. Main outcome measures: Per cent adult obesity, per cent fair/poor health, low birth weight per cent, per cent with diabetes, years of potential life lost, colorectal cancer incidence rate and circulatory disease mortality rate. Results: County performance that outperforms expectations is for the most part outcome specific. But there are a few counties that performed particularly well across most measures. Conclusions: The positive deviance approach provides a means for state and local public health departments to identify places that show better health outcomes despite demographic, social, economic or behavioural disadvantage. These places may serve as case studies or models for subsequent investigations to uncover best practices in the face of adversity and generalise effective approaches to other areas