Working Paper: NBER ID: w29426
Authors: Robert W. Fairlie; Kenneth Couch; Huanan Xu
Abstract: We explore whether COVID-19 disproportionately affected women in the labor market using CPS data through the end of 2020. We find that male-female gaps in the employment-to-population ratio and hours worked for women with school-age children have widened but not for those with younger children. Triple-difference estimates are consistent with most of the reductions observed for women with school-age children being attributable to additional child care responsibilities (the “COVID motherhood penalty”). Conducting decompositions, we find women had a greater likelihood to telework, higher education levels and a less-impacted occupational distribution, which all contributed to lessening negative impacts relative to men.
Keywords: COVID-19; gender inequality; labor market; child caregiving; employment
JEL Codes: J16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| women's labor market activity (J21) | gender disparities in labor market outcomes (J70) |
| COVID-19 (I15) | gender disparities in labor market outcomes (J70) |
| working in non-essential industries (L89) | unemployment gaps (J64) |
| increased caregiving demands (J13) | women's labor market activity (J21) |
| increased caregiving demands (J13) | hours worked by women (J21) |