Women’s Narratives: ICTs in the Family Household During the (Post-)Pandemic

Abstract

Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world, although the current situation is more under control. Because the development of the pandemic took place in the context of a digital society, where digital information and communication technologies (ICT) were already widely used, households certainly had to make greater use of this powerful communication tool, partly for work, and partly for distance learning purposes. It is likely that the increased use of ICT in the home, due to the lockdown, created an environment in which families were more united but also isolated and in conflict and this trend may still be present today.

This chapter is based on a study of ICT in the daily lives of Portuguese and Italian women, who lived in nuclear families, during and after the COVID pandemic. Through the testimonies of these women, therefore, we will discuss the results of the study to describe and understand how families used ICT during and after the pandemic. In particular, we are interested in answering the following questions: Did domestic spaces become more and more like work spaces due to the increased use of ICT due to the pandemic lockdown? Did distance learning, due to the lockdown, lead to an increase in ICT use by children/adolescents that is still perpetuated today?

Citation

Giuseppe, S.D. (2024), "Women’s Narratives: ICTs in the Family Household During the (Post-)Pandemic", Costa, R.P. and Blair, S.L. (Ed.) More than Just a ‘Home’: Understanding the Living Spaces of Families (Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research, Vol. 25), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 37-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1530-353520240000025003