Work, care and gender during the COVID-19 crisis

Claudia Hupkau and Barbara Petrongolo

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: We explore the effects of the COVID-19 crisis and the associated restrictions to economic activity on paid and unpaid work for men and women in the United Kingdom. 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: childcare; Covid-19; gender gaps; time use; coronavirus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 J13 J16 J22 J30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2020-11-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (86)

Published in Fiscal Studies, 30, November, 2020, 41(3), pp. 623 - 651. ISSN: 0143-5671

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/107829/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Work, Care and Gender during the COVID‐19 Crisis (2020)
Working Paper: Work, care and gender during the Covid-19 crisis (2020)
Working Paper: Work, care and gender during the Covid-19 crisis (2020)
Working Paper: Work, care and gender during the Covid-19 crisis (2020)
Working Paper: Work, care and gender during the Covid-19 crisis (2020)
Working Paper: Work, Care and Gender during the COVID-19 Crisis (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:107829

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