COVID‐19 and the gender gap in work hours

School and day care closures due to the COVID‐19 pandemic have increased caregiving responsibilities for working parents. As a result, many have changed their work hours to meet these growing demands. In this study, we use panel data from the US Current Population Survey to examine changes in mother...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Gender, work, and organization Vol. 28; no. S1; pp. 101 - 112
Main Authors: Collins, Caitlyn, Landivar, Liana Christin, Ruppanner, Leah, Scarborough, William J.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2021
John Wiley and Sons Inc
Subjects:
Adolescent mothers
Caregiving
Child care services
Children
Covid 19: A Sociocultural Archive
COVID-19
Day care
Day care centers
Employment
family
Fathers
Feminist Frontiers
Gender
motherhood
Mothers
Pandemics
Panel data
Parents & parenting
Women
Work
Working hours
Working mothers
Working parents
Young mothers
United States > US
ISSN:0968-6673, 1468-0432
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:School and day care closures due to the COVID‐19 pandemic have increased caregiving responsibilities for working parents. As a result, many have changed their work hours to meet these growing demands. In this study, we use panel data from the US Current Population Survey to examine changes in mothers’ and fathers’ work hours from February through April 2020, the period of time prior to the widespread COVID‐19 outbreak in the United States and through its first peak. Using person‐level fixed effects models, we find that mothers with young children have reduced their work hours four to five times more than fathers. Consequently, the gender gap in work hours has grown by 20–50 per cent. These findings indicate yet another negative consequence of the COVID‐19 pandemic, highlighting the challenges it poses to women’s work hours and employment.
Bibliography:Caitlyn Collins, Liana Christin Landivar, Leah Ruppanner and William J. Scarborough contributed equally to this manuscript.
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ISSN:0968-6673
1468-0432
DOI:10.1111/gwao.12506