What is CoGIS-NL?
The interdisciplinary Covid-19 Gender (In)equality Survey Netherlands (CoGIS-NL) study began in April 2020. CoGIS-NL is a longitudinal study and initially focused on how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted Dutch parents in terms of paid work, childcare and household tasks, and wellbeing. Since June 2020, we have also been studying men and women without children at home. Now with six waves of representative, probability-based data between April 2020 and April 2022 we are well-equipped to examine the varying impact of the pandemic on men and women in the Netherlands.
Why is this project needed?
The importance of the CoGIS-NL study is two-fold. Firstly, the Covid-19 pandemic and the far-reaching governmental response to it represent a phenomenon with the potential of substantially impacting preexisting patterns of gender inequalities in paid work, household and childcare tasks, and wellbeing. CoGIS-NL provides key insights into the extent to which inequalities have changed and shifted as a result of the pandemic, also studying whether new inequalities are emerging across time. Second, with no clear end to the Covid-19 pandemic in sight, social science insights into how the pandemic has affected gender inequalities are essential to understanding the societal effects of Covid-19. These insights are necessary to inform short and long-term policy responses.
The data
Data for CoGIS-NL was obtained through the LISS panel (Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences, https://www.lissdata.nl). The LISS panel is a representative, online survey panel based on a true probability sample drawn by the Dutch National Statistics Office (CBS) from Dutch population registers. The CoGIS-NL study consists of six waves of data gathered in April 2020, June 2020, September 2020, November 2020, November 2021 and April 2022 .
What questions does CoGIS-NL answer ?
CoGIS-NL applies a longitudinal survey design, with measures aimed at studying gender differences in paid work, the division of household and childcare tasks, and wellbeing. Initial waves of the survey also include retrospective questions that allow us to compare respondents’ current situation to their situation prior to the pandemic.
Central questions in the CoGIS NL study include: “When and where are people working?”, “How has the pandemic affected employees’ perceived work pressure?”, “How has the pandemic affected people’s working hours?”, “Do people have more or less leisure time?”, “How are childcare and household tasks divided between couples?”, “How difficult or easy is it for parents to balance work and care?” Other items included in the survey allow us to compare answers between different groups, investigating potential differences across type of employment (essential vs non-essential), whether or not people have children at home, the age of their children, and educational level.