Title: The Gender Care Gap: EU Migration and Post-COVID Responses
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: The aim of this Post-doctorate Fellowship (PDF), based on my PhD findings, is to advance new ways of thinking about care, gender and law. The PDF will allow me to develop my work to incorporate, in more detail, the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on women's rights, and to enrich this work through deepening the connection between my findings and Vulnerability Theory's (VT) notion of the "responsive state" as developed by Fineman. On this basis I intend, by the end of this PDF, to have established a track record of successful publications, engaged with stakeholders on gender, migration, law and post-COVID recovery with a view to impacting their approaches to policy in this field, and broadened my national, European and international academic and stakeholder networks enabling me to pursue further impact and research collaboration in my post-PDF career. Consequently, I have set five objectives for this PDF, they are: firstly, to carry out limited further research (20% of the total PDF) on the impact of COVID on gender equality, and to develop analysis which relates this and my PhD findings to VT's the responsive state. Secondly, to prepare three articles for journal publication with corresponding blogs/podcasts (articles and journals are detailed in the Case for Support). Thirdly, to collaborate with two civil society partners and their networks on two KE events, one European (Brussels), one national (Scotland) and to co-develop accompanying discussion papers for each event which will be disseminated at the events and through social media with a view to influencing the civil society organisations lobbying strategies on the gender dimension of intra-EU mobility (Brussels) and the gender dimension of post-COVID recovery planning (Scotland). Fourthly, to broaden my academic networks I will present at three national conferences and at UoG seminar series and take part (virtually) in the Visiting Scholar programme at the Vulnerability and the Human Condition Centre (based at Emory University and led by Fineman- see letter of invitation) where I can engage with and learn from the centre's community of scholars and explore future international collaborations. Fifthly, to continue to develop professional skills I will engage with research training at UoG and work closely with my mentor. Overall, this PDF will enable me to identify and secure a future strategy for my research and research impact, to develop the skills and competencies that I need to excel and propel my academic career.

Lay abstract: This research project "The Gender Care Gap: EU Migration and Post-COVID Responses" explores why legal frameworks which are intended to produce socially just, equitable and fair outcomes can instead entrench stereotypes and reinforce inequalities. This project looks at how legal rules can reinforce gender inequality. It considers the impact on women of the unequal sharing of unpaid care work between men and women. In the EU, as for the rest of the world, women do more unpaid care work than men. They are the main carers of children, people with a disability, illness, and the elderly and 38 percent of women spend one hour a day or more on caring duties compared with 25 percent of men. Women also participate in paid work and, in two parent families, both parents are likely to work. However, research shows that women still have the main responsibility for caring for the family or for organising that care, for example by finding nurseries, dealing with emergencies or planning for elderly parents' care. As a result, women are now often performing a "double day" or "second shift" where they must combine paid and unpaid work on a daily basis. The impact of the unequal sharing of unpaid care work on women is complicated. What is clear is that it affects women's economic independence, which can be seen by the gender employment gap, the gender pay gap and the gender pension gap.The challenges that women face in meeting their family's unpaid care needs and combining this with their jobs has become much harder because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the various restrictions and lockdowns have led to hospitals and health care services limiting their services placing a larger burden on families to provide care for the elderly and infirm. School and nursery closures have shifted childcare and schooling needs onto the household. This has affected, among other things, women's ability to engage in paid work. The UN has recognised the social impact that COVID-19 has had on women and the threat that these challenges have on progress towards gender equality. Therefore, the UN is urging governments to put gender equality and women's economic independence at the heart of their post-COVID recovery planning. This project investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women. It looks at legal frameworks, and questions whether the rules and their application progress gender equality or whether they are entrenching gender stereotypes, particularly in terms of unpaid care work. One particular focus of this work involves addressing the gender dimension of EU migration and how the legal rules governing the free movement of people within the EU impacts women when they have caring responsibilities. When women are living in a new country, they are removed from their family networks of support and they face increased challenges when trying to combine paid work with unpaid care responsibilities. Furthermore, research shows that maintaining rights and protections through the EU legal rules in this area is more difficult for women when they have caring responsibilities and many women and children are experiencing isolation and hardship in their host country as a result. This project is a collaboration between academic and civil society partners. It will be conducted with women's rights civil society organisations in Scotland and at the EU level in Brussels, to develop ways to address the gender dimension of EU migration and for women's rights more broadly to be part of the national and EU responses to the COVID-19 recovery planning. The project's findings will be publicised widely, through academic journals and conferences and through blogs, podcasts and social media, aimed at policy makers, the general public and other researchers. The aim of this project is to advance new ways of thinking about care, migration, gender and law and to influence approaches to post-COVID recovery to ensure that woman's rights are acknowledged, protected and promoted.

Research activity codes: 1.2 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC PROCESSES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE;INFECTION