COVID-19 and the employment gender gap in Japan

Taiyo Fukai, Masato Ikeda, Daiji Kawaguchi and Shintaro Yamaguchi

Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 2023, vol. 68, issue C

Abstract: This paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected female employment in Japan. Our estimates indicate that the employment rate of married women with children decreased by 3.5 percentage points, while that of those without children decreased by only 0.3 percentage points, implying that increased childcare responsibilities caused a sharp decline in mothers’ employment. Further, mothers who left or lost their jobs appear to have dropped out of the labor force even several months after school reopening. In contrast to women, the employment rate of married men with children was not affected, which hindered progress in narrowing the employment gender gap.

Keywords: Labor force participation; Employment; Gender gap; COVID-19; Childcare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 J13 J16 J21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jjieco:v:68:y:2023:i:c:s0889158323000114

DOI: 10.1016/j.jjie.2023.101256

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