Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP15358
Authors: Claudia Hupkau; Barbara Petrongolo
Abstract: We explore impacts of the pandemic crisis and associated restrictions to economic activity on paid and unpaid work for men and women in the UK. Using data from the Covid-19 supplement of Understanding Society, we find evidence that labour market outcomes of men and women were roughly equally affected at the extensive margin, as measured by the incidence of job loss or furloughing, but if anything women suffered smaller losses at the intensive margin, experiencing slightly smaller changes in hours and earnings. Within the household, women provided on average a larger share of increased childcare needs, but in an important share of households fathers became the primary childcare providers. These distributional consequences of the pandemic may be important to understand its inequality legacy over the longer term.
Keywords: COVID-19; gender gaps; home production
JEL Codes: J13; J16; J22; J31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| COVID-19 pandemic (H12) | labor market outcomes for men and women (J79) |
| COVID-19 pandemic (H12) | job loss or furloughing incidence (J63) |
| job loss or furloughing incidence (J63) | labor market outcomes for men and women (J79) |
| COVID-19 pandemic (H12) | changes in hours and earnings for women (J31) |
| increased childcare needs (J13) | labor market outcomes for women (J29) |
| fathers becoming primary childcare providers (J12) | shift in traditional gender roles (J16) |