Working Paper: NBER ID: w26947
Authors: Titan Alon; Matthias Doepke; Jane Olmstead-Rumsey; Michele Tertilt
Abstract: The economic downturn caused by the current COVID-19 outbreak has substantial implications for gender equality, both during the downturn and the subsequent recovery. Compared to “regular” recessions, which affect men’s employment more severely than women’s employment, the employment drop related to social distancing measures has a large impact on sectors with high female employment shares. In addition, closures of schools and daycare centers have massively increased child care needs, which has a particularly large impact on working mothers. The effects of the crisis on working mothers are likely to be persistent, due to high returns to experience in the labor market. Beyond the immediate crisis, there are opposing forces which may ultimately promote gender equality in the labor market. First, businesses are rapidly adopting flexible work arrangements, which are likely to persist. Second, there are also many fathers who now have to take primary responsibility for child care, which may erode social norms that currently lead to a lopsided distribution of the division of labor in house work and child care.
Keywords: COVID-19; gender equality; employment; childcare
JEL Codes: D10; E24; J16; J22
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| COVID-19 pandemic (H12) | gender equality (J16) |
| COVID-19 economic downturn (F44) | negative effect on women (J16) |
| employment drop (J63) | sectors with high female employment shares (J21) |
| closure of schools and daycare centers (J13) | increased childcare responsibilities (J13) |
| increased childcare responsibilities (J13) | impact on working mothers (J16) |
| COVID-19 pandemic (H12) | persistent disadvantages for women in labor market (J79) |
| businesses adopting flexible work arrangements (J22) | promote gender equality (J16) |
| shifts in social norms (Z13) | equitable distribution of childcare duties (D13) |