WESTERN EUROPE — A heatwave is occurring across western Europe. The heatwave has resulted in school closures and presented childcare challenges for families.

On Tuesday, Oliver's school closed, joining more than 1,000 other schools around the country that also closed. Emily Dickinson, 36, Oliver's mother, said that Oliver was likely more comfortable at school than in their one-bedroom apartment in Tufnell Park, London, where she lives with her partner, Danny Swain, 34, and their 10-year-old son, Oliver. "At school, he was probably more comfortable than in our living situation," Dickinson said. "It's been unbearable." Dickinson added, "We feel like we're the peasants that just have to deal with it."

In South Derbyshire, Charlotte Buxton, 41, kept her son, who has severe learning difficulties, home with his younger brother on Wednesday due to his younger brother's school closing. Buxton has five children, three of whom are autistic. Buxton, who has fibromyalgia and postural tachycardia syndrome, stated, "I have to choose all the time." She added, "It's always the mums."

Asad Rehman, chief executive of Friends of the Earth, stated the situation "[It] throws a grenade into every vulnerability you already have." Rehman also questioned, "Have we created conditions that put marginalised people at risk?" A 2022 study found that almost half of all working-age women average 45 hours of unpaid care each week. Gemma Derrick, a research policy and culture professor at the University of Bristol, found that women's productivity was more heavily affected than men's when they became parents.

Why It Matters

The current heatwave in western Europe has revealed existing social and economic disparities, particularly impacting women and low-income households through increased childcare responsibilities and exposure to extreme temperatures. The broad closure of schools during the heatwave has shifted care burdens to families, often falling on mothers, which aligns with existing research on unpaid care work. Unequal distribution of green spaces in urban areas contributes to higher temperatures in some communities.