Work-life balance during the COVID-19 pandemic: Case of working Mothers

Purpose: Given the reality that working mothers are finding it challenging to balance their work and life because of some challenges like ICT issues, role conflict, childcare responsibility and feeling isolated socially and professionally. The paper aims to explore the impact of remote working on working mothers and work-life balance in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This paper may help high executives and managers to implement strategies that supports new work arrangements. Question : What is the impact of the remote working on working mothers and work life balance in the Bahraini public organization during the pandemic? Design\methodology: A combination of quantitative and qualitative methodology used through an online questionnaire distributed to 30 working mothers in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Population : Working mothers in the public sector. Findings : Remote working during the Covid-19 has resulted in developing job performance and resulted in employee satisfaction when the right tools are available (e.g., computer), besides having more quality time with family members. At the same time working mothers shared that the ICT infrastructure was a challenge for them which impacted their remote working experience. The findings showed that working mothers felt socially and professionally isolated. The main problem that was created as a result of remote working was role conflict and childcare responsibility. Value : The research paper aims to explore in depth the impact of remote working (working from home) on working mothers and work-life balance in the Kingdom of Bahrain.