Measuring the Role of Mothers & Family Resilience in the Pandemic Period

The appeal to "Stay at Home" demands that women work even harder (double burden). They divide their time between work, teaching their children and managing the family economy in order to survive amid a pandemic. A housewife suddenly must be a teacher for her children with demands to master all school subjects and helping to complete homework that comes every day. Housewives also must think about how their family maintains nutritional intake amidst the threat of a pandemic and, ensure family members remain healthy. They must become a reliable chef with creative menus and family snacks. They must think of bringing in extra income or even replacing the family's main wage earner because their husband is unable to work due to the pandemic. During the pandemic, we have seen an increasing number of housewives on social media doing business online by marketing family products. Housewives have become increasingly creative in order to help their family survive.

The threat of domestic violence and abuse has the potential to arise if there is no collaboration with the husband in sharing domestic roles such as childcare and solving family economic problems. Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, housewives have also taken preventative measures against the COVID-19 threat. It would be useless for a housewife to try and prevent the Corona virus threat in the home, without compliance from the father and other family members - trying to maintain social distancing recommendations for example. The mother, father and child are all susceptible to contracting COVID 19. Therefore, it becomes a joint task that everyone in the family need to support one another to keep the family from becoming infected with COVID-19.

The appeal "Stay at Home" made Indonesian families redefine the meaning of family ties, improve communication between family members and, re-discuss the vision and mission of the family. Strengthening family resilience during a pandemic can be done by equal division of domestic roles between husband and wife. No one being more dominant than one another. It is not true if women only play complementary roles, become extras or other terms. Husbands and wives, men and women are complementary human beings. Domestic roles can be shared with spouses and collaboration with family members to create family happiness. Because housewives are family managers. They are the front line in family security. And the family is at the forefront in preventing COVID-19.

Happy Mother's Day!