The Evolving Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Gender Inequality in the U.S. Labor Market: The COVID Motherhood Penalty

Robert Fairlie, Kenneth Couch and Huanan Xu

No 29426, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We explore whether COVID-19 disproportionately affected women in the labor market using CPS data through the end of 2020. We find that male-female gaps in the employment-to-population ratio and hours worked for women with school-age children have widened but not for those with younger children. Triple-difference estimates are consistent with most of the reductions observed for women with school-age children being attributable to additional child care responsibilities (the “COVID motherhood penalty”). Conducting decompositions, we find women had a greater likelihood to telework, higher education levels and a less-impacted occupational distribution, which all contributed to lessening negative impacts relative to men.

JEL-codes: J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gen and nep-lab
Note: LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Published as Kenneth A. Couch & Robert W. Fairlie & Huanan Xu, 2022. "The evolving impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on gender inequality in the US labor market: The COVID motherhood penalty," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(2), pages 485-507, April.

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Journal Article: The evolving impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on gender inequality in the US labor market: The COVID motherhood penalty (2022)
Working Paper: The Evolving Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Gender Inequality in the U.S. Labor Market: The COVID Motherhood Penalty (2021)
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