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The evolving impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on gender inequality in the US labor market: The COVID motherhood penalty
Author(s) -
Couch Kenneth A.,
Fairlie Robert W.,
Xu Huanan
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/ecin.13054
Subject(s) - covid-19 , pandemic , inequality , current population survey , demographic economics , economics , population , gender inequality , labour economics , demography , sociology , medicine , mathematical analysis , mathematics , disease , pathology , virology , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty)
We explore whether COVID‐19 disproportionately affected women in the labor market using Current Population Survey 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 childcare 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.