Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, there has been increasing evidence suggesting that current gendered and racially biased structures put in place to deal with the crises lead women and BAME population to be disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Yet, there is less information on how different groups respond to the pandemic in terms of compliance with the measures implemented by the government, and the role that parenthood and employment play in explaining compliance for such groups. We take insights from the literature on policy preferences and compliance to argue that gender, ethnicity, parenthood and employment are associated with high levels of worry about the consequences of the pandemic, leading to variations in compliance with social distancing measures. We test our argument using data from an original nationally representative survey. Results indicate that women and BAME respondents present important challenges to manage anxiety, stress and worry but they manifest differently in their compliance with social distancing measures. We also find that parenthood and employment affect compliance but in an unexpected direction. Together, results indicate that compliance is not only a matter of individual choice but also a matter of structural and contextual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Parenthood, employment, anxiety, gender, and race: drivers of non-compliance with lockdown measures