Parenting and Remote Work in the Pandemic: Parents’ Work-Life Boundaries and Boundary Management Strategies in the New Normal

A significant change that employees in the United States have experienced because of the COVID-19 pandemic is the rise of remote work. There are many benefits of remote work, including increased performance and productivity. However, many remote workers struggle to separate work and life, leading to increased work-life conflict. Parents working remotely during the pandemic were the most likely to report challenges keeping work and life separate. The goal of this study was to better understand how parents’ work-life boundaries have changed during the pandemic. Based on interviews with 16 mothers and 16 fathers, this study examined how parents’ preferences for keeping work and life separate have adjusted and what factors affect their work and life. This research also looked at how mothers and fathers differ in their strategies to navigate between work and life when working remotely. This research uncovered six themes on how parents managed their work-life boundaries: two mindset shifts and four work-life separation strategies. Parents adapted their mindsets by redefining their priorities and setting realistic work and family expectations. The four boundary management strategies were turning off technology, sticking to a schedule, designating a home office space, and using a door-closed policy.