The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a shift toward a more traditional division of labor–one where women took greater responsibility for household tasks and childcare than men. We tested whether this regressive shift was more acutely perceived and experienced by women in countries with greater gender equality. Cross-cultural longitudinal survey data for women and men (N = 10,238) was collected weekly during the first few months of the pandemic. Multilevel modelling analyses, based on seven waves of data collection, indicated that a regressive shift was broadly perceived but not uniformly felt. Women and men alike perceived a shift toward a more traditional division of household labor during the first few weeks of the pandemic. However, this perception only undermined women’s satisfaction with their personal relationships and subjective mental health if they lived in countries with higher levels of economic gender equality. Among women in countries with lower levels of economic gender equality, the perceived shift predicted higher relationship satisfaction and mental health. There were no such effects among men. Taken together, our results suggest that subjective perceptions of disempowerment, and the gender role norms that underpin them, should be considered when examining the gendered impact of global crisis.

COVID-19 大流行的爆发导致了向更传统的劳动分工的转变——女性比男性承担更多的家务和育儿责任。我们测试了性别平等程度较高的国家的女性是否更敏锐地感知和经历了这种倒退转变。 在大流行的最初几个月，每周收集女性和男性的跨文化纵向调查数据（N = 10,238）。基于七波数据收集的多级建模分析表明，人们普遍认为存在倒退性转变，但并未普遍感受到。在大流行的最初几周内，女性和男性都感受到了向更传统的家庭劳动分工的转变。然而，如果生活在经济性别平等水平较高的国家，这种看法只会降低女性对其人际关系和主观心理健康的满意度。在经济性别平等水平较低的国家的女性中，这种感知的转变预示着更高的关系满意度和心理健康。男性中没有这样的影响。总而言之，我们的研究结果表明，在审查全球危机的性别影响时，应考虑对剥夺权力的主观看法以及支撑这些看法的性别角色规范。