On some days everything gets totally out of hand,” sighs Katharina Boesche, a German self-employed lawyer and mother of three. Fourteen months of closures and semi-closures of her daughters’ schools have taken a toll. She mostly works late at night or between 4am and 8am—when the house is quiet. The girls have coped with online learning, she says, but the seven-year-old needs a lot of supervision. Their school, like most in Germany, is only welcoming them back part-time. Mrs Boesche is stressed and exhausted.
Coronavirus
The Economist: How the pandemic has upended the lives of working parents
The office of Rover.com sits empty with employees working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic on March 12, 2020, in Seattle, Washington.