Mothers' Caregiving during COVID: The Impact of Divorce Laws and Homeownership on Women's Labor Force Status

Cynthia Bansak, Shoshana Grossbard and Wong, Crystal (Ho Po) ()
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Wong, Crystal (Ho Po): National Tsing Hua University

No 14408, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We investigate women's likelihood of withdrawing from paid labor to care for children and help them with schoolwork as a result of COVID and school closures. Were women more likely to shift out of paid labor in states where property-division rules would better protect the financial interests of stay-at-home parents? Such higher protection is offered in states with community property regimes or with homemaking provisions, the alternative being equitable-division and no homemaking provisions. We use monthly data from the U.S. Current Population Survey and compare the labor force participation of women with children in grades K-6 between 2019 and 2020, before and after COVID started. We find an association between marital property laws offering women more financial protection and women's labor supply response to COVID-19, especially among non-immigrants.

Keywords: COVID-19; labor force; schools; community property; divorce (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I18 J13 J16 J2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2021-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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