The Effect of School Closures during the Pandemic on Parental Labor Supply in China

Boyan Zheng, James Raymo, Yi Zhou and Qiang Ren

Journal of Labor Economics, 2026, vol. 44, issue S1, S183 - S201

Abstract: Using data from the China Family Panel Studies and data on COVID-19 school closures, this study is among the first to examine the effect of local school disruptions on the labor supply of parents of school-aged children in China. Difference-in-differences estimates show gender differences in the effects of school disruptions on labor supply, although coefficients are imprecisely estimated. Mothers experienced a sizable but statistically insignificant 9% decline in employment in response to school closures. Fathers saw no such decline and in some specifications increased labor supply. These findings are consistent with gender-based household specialization, especially in China’s urban regions.

Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/742924 (application/pdf)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/742924 (text/html)
Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucp:jlabec:doi:10.1086/742924

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Labor Economics from University of Chicago Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Journals Division ().