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Household Diversity and the Impacts of COVID-19 on Families in Portugal
Publication . Gouveia, Rita; Ramos, Vasco; Wall, Karin
Throughout the world, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted family routines, relationships,
projects and sociability, threatening the health, income, social cohesion, and well-being of
individuals and their families. Lockdown restrictions imposed during the first wave of the
pandemic challenged the theories, concepts, and methods used by family sociologists
and the intersecting fields of gender and social inequality. By restricting physical
interactions to co-resident family members, the household regained a privileged role as
a crucial social laboratory for studying the impact of COVID-19 on family life. The difficulties
encountered by individuals in maintaining and dealing with close relationships across
households and geographical borders, in a context in which relational proximity was
discouraged by the public authorities, exposed the linked nature of family and personal
relationships beyond the limits of co-residence. The main aim of this article is to investigate
the social impacts of the pandemic on different types of households during the first
lockdown at an early stage of the pandemic in Portugal. Drawing on an online survey
applied to a non-probabilistic sample of 11,508 households between 25 and 29 March
2020, the authors combined quantitative and qualitative methods, including bi-variate
inferential statistics, cluster analysis and in-depth case studies. The article distinguishes
between different household types: solo, couple with and without children, extended,
friendship, lone-parent families, and intermittent arrangements, such as shared custody. A
cross-tabulation of the quantitative data with open-ended responses was carried out to
provide a refined analysis of the household reconfigurations brought about during
lockdown. The analysis showed how pre-existing unequal structural living conditions
shaped the pathways leading to household reconfiguration as families sought to cope with
restrictions on mobility, social distancing norms, and other lockdown measures. The
findings stress that, in dealing with a crisis, multilevel welfare interventions need to be
considered if governments are to cater to the differentiated social needs and vulnerabilities
faced by individuals and families.
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Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
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CEEC IND 2018
Número da atribuição
CEECIND/00864/2018/CP1541/CT0003