Lockdown has made more women anxious and lonely while more men have died, study finds

Huge gaps have opened up between the impact of the Covid pandemic on men and women - with males dying in greater numbers while females endure more negative impacts to their wellbeing.

A new study found vastly differing experiences in lockdown, with women most likely to be furloughed and spending most time on unpaid household chores and childcare.

Women also reported higher levels of anxiety, depression and loneliness.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal an 18 per cent difference in deaths between genders, with 63,700 men and 53,300 men losing their lives to coronavirus between March last year and this January.

Men of working age suffered a fatality rate of 31 deaths per 100,000 compared with 17 deaths for women.

But the report also found that a higher proportion of women said the pandemic had had a negative impact on their wellbeing.

Men have died in greater numbers than women, ONS data shows (ONS)

In September and October last year, researchers found women spent 64 per cent more time on unpaid household work than men.

According to ONS, women spent an average of two hours and 43 minutes on childcare and chores each day, while the men did this for one hour and 40 minutes - down from one hour and 58 minutes at the start of lockdown.

More than three quarters of women homeschooled a school aged child in January and February compared to 52 per cent of men, the report states.

Women spent more time on household chores and childcare, the research shows (ONS)

Women reported higher levels of anxiety, depression and loneliness (ONS)

It says: "In April and early May 2020, around one in three women (34%) reported that their well-being was negatively affected by homeschooling a school age child compared with only one in five men (20%).

"By late January and early February 2021, it was taking a greater toll on both women (53%) and men (45%)."

As the crisis progressed, the figures show, more men became less worried by the pandemic.

The study says: "The proportion of men and women reporting that they were not at all worried increased between March and May 2020.

"Between 4 and 28 June 2020 and 12 and 30 August 2020, a higher proportion than men than women reported not being at all worried, coinciding with more relaxed coronavirus restrictions across Great Britain.