Parental Employment Responses to COVID-19 School Disruptions in Korea

Yeji Bak, Sok Chul Hong and Dae-il Kim

Journal of Labor Economics, 2026, vol. 44, issue S1, S111 - S137

Abstract: This study is the first to estimate the effect of COVID-19 schooling disruptions on parental employment in Korea. Using the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study and a difference-in-differences approach, we find that restrictions on in-person schooling had a small and statistically insignificant effect on the employment of parents of school-age children. One explanation may be the presence of a large private tutoring industry to which Korean parents turned for childcare and supplemental instruction. Finally, with respect to less educated mothers of high school students, the evidence is more mixed that in-person schooling disruptions negatively affected their employment.

Date: 2026
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