Gender Gaps in Time Use: Pan-European Evidence from School Closures during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Benjamin Elsner (), Manvi Jindal, Massimiliano Mascherini () and Sanna Nivakoski
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Benjamin Elsner: University College Dublin
Manvi Jindal: University College Dublin
Massimiliano Mascherini: Eurofound - European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Sanna Nivakoski: Eurofound - European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions

No 17151, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We study the impact of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic on the time allocated to paid and unpaid work within households. We use panel data from 27 EU countries and isolate the impact of school closures by comparing parents and non-parents. We find no evidence that school closures had a disproportionate impact on women or men. Women and men reduced the time spent on paid work and increased the amount of time spent on household chores and leisure in roughly equal amounts. These findings do not confirm the common concern that school closures increased the care burden for women.

Keywords: COVID-19; gender gaps; household production; paid work; time-use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 J13 J16 J22 J30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2024-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gen and nep-lab
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