Gabriel, 3, stares out the window during Lockdown
Single mother Kathleen, 34, sits on her bed after an early morning shower in Washington, DC. Kathleen works full time from home, and owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, has no childcare help for a 3-year-old, which leaves her exhausted each day
Fractured Joy- Caregiving
At the beginning of the pandemic, nearly two million women had to drop out of the workforce, often due to the lack of childcare alternatives. The number of single mothers with jobs is now 22% lower than it was in April 2019. If you are a single mother with children under the age of 5–who until recently weren't eligible for vaccinations–the burden of working at home while caring for a child is a real threat to mental health and job viability.
Single mother Kathleen Jones is a 34-year-old woman living in the Washington, DC area who works full time while caring for her small son Gabriel. Before the world shut down, her (then) 3-year-old went to daycare a couple of times a week for 4 hours each day, allowing Kathleen a bit of time to focus on her 40+ hour a week job as a federal employee.
Since school closures began, Kathleen has had to drastically shift her life to include the roles of constant playmate, teacher, and nurse to her steadily expanding list as cook, housekeeper, potty trainer, and full-time laundress. While attending to a temperamental child's physical and emotional needs, tantrums, and whims, she tries to manage her own mental health with the rising anxiety as new COVID-19 variants continue to evolve and assault her.
Like most kids stuck at home, young Gabriel has become anxious and demanding after spending nearly a year without external stimulation. Kathleen has tried to make peace between him and the new normal, which has engendered an intensely co-dependent relationship that she–like the millions of other single mothers–must shoulder even as she reaches the breaking point.
Sleeping single mother Kathleen, 34, is pushed to the very edge of her bed by her 3-year-old son, whose co-dependence skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gabriel, 3, cries at the dining table. He has asked for cheese crackers as part of his lunch, which the family ran out of yesterday. His mother, Kathleen, is a single parent who works full time from home. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she has no childcare help as schools and daycares shut down, so sometimes things like the exact snack foods he demands, fall through the cracks as she attempts to be everything for her son, while maintaining her job and sanity
Kathleen attempts to dress Gabriel for a day outside. Each day is a fit of breakdowns, followed by hugs.
Gabriel plays with his mother's jewelry on her bed. Due to daycare closures, there is no childcare help, so his mom has begun allowing relaxing the rules just to help keep him calm and entertained.
Kathleen feels intensely bad for her child who doesn't have any playmates around, but also feels stuck sometimes between duties to work and around-the-clock caregiving.
5:47 AM
Finally, nearly a year after the pandemic began a 2 day a week daycare cenetr opened up
Kathleen pulls her 40 lb child in a Radio Flyer cart to the local park, which has just reopened. She feels intensely bad for her son, who doesn't have any friends around–as everyone fears spreading the virus– so she tries to be his playmate, but also feels stuck sometimes between duties to work and the demands care giving.
Kathleen attempts to teach Gabriel a game while at the park.
Kathleen sits with her 3-year-old, Gabriel, at a restaurant waiting for a cup of coffee to take away. After a long winter stuck indoors, they feel lucky to have the option of sitting outside.
Mom attempts to get some work done, as Gabriel stands in her office chair
Kathleen takes a moment for herself
Meals and dirty dishes
Kathleen attempts to wash the dinner dishes while her son, Gabriel, hugs her legs, and their dog, Bella, waits to be fed.
Kathleen, holding her head, after she banged it trying to attend to Gabriel’s specific and abundant demands about his dinner, tonight refusing to use the cup she set out for him, requiring instead an orange version with a dinosaur, which was in the dishwasher.
Kathleen bathes Gabriel while explaining why he shouldn’t squirt the entire bottle of soap into the tub.
Mom fits her long, adult body onto the small bed of 3-year-old Gabriel, as he's asked that she read to him in bed tonight.
After another long day attending to the needs of her son, Kathleen sits at her desk to begin her work day. Though she feels lucky that her job, affords her the possibility of completing assigned workloads in the evenings after she puts her son to bed at 8pm, its still difficult. She typically stays up until after midnight each day to complete her work, before attending to the mountain of dishes, laundry and deserted toys that have piled up.