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Work, care and gender during the Covid-19 crisis

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  • Petrongolo, Barbara
  • Hupkau, Claudia

Abstract

We explore impacts of the pandemic crisis and associated restrictions to economic activity on paid and unpaid work for men and women in the UK. Using data from the Covid-19 supplement of Understanding Society, we find evidence that labour market outcomes of men and women were roughly equally affected at the extensive margin, as measured by the incidence of job loss or furloughing, but if anything women suffered smaller losses at the intensive margin, experiencing slightly smaller changes in hours and earnings. Within the household, women provided on average a larger share of increased childcare needs, but in an important share of households fathers became the primary childcare providers. These distributional consequences of the pandemic may be important to understand its inequality legacy over the longer term.

Suggested Citation

  • Petrongolo, Barbara & Hupkau, Claudia, 2020. "Work, care and gender during the Covid-19 crisis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108463, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:108463
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lidia Farré & Yarine Fawaz & Libertad González Luna & Jennifer Graves, 2020. "How the covid-19 lockdown affected gender Inequality in paid and unpaid work in Spain," Economics Working Papers 1728, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
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    5. Alison Andrew & Sarah Cattan & Monica Costa Dias & Christine Farquharson & Lucy Kraftman & Sonya Krutikova & Angus Phimister & Almudena Sevilla, 2022. "The gendered division of paid and domestic work under lockdown," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 325-340, December.
    6. Almudena Sevilla & Sarah Smith, 2020. "Baby steps: the gender division of childcare during the COVID-19 pandemic," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 169-186.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Fiaschi, Davide & Tealdi, Cristina, 2023. "The attachment of adult women to the Italian labour market in the shadow of COVID-19," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Anna Barbuscia & Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz, 2023. "Do Income and Employment Uncertainty Affect Couple Stability? Evidence for France During the COVID-19 Pandemic," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-35, December.
    4. Deole, Sumit S. & Deter, Max & Huang, Yue, 2023. "Home sweet home: Working from home and employee performance during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. Giulia Bettin & Isabella Giorgetti & Stefano Staffolani, 2024. "The impact of Covid-19 lockdown on the gender gap in the Italian labour market," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 1-33, March.
    6. Amaral, Sofia & Dinarte-Diaz, Lelys & Dominguez, Patricio & Perez-Vincent, Santiago M., 2024. "Helping families help themselves: The (Un)intended impacts of a digital parenting program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    7. Boring, Anne & Moroni, Gloria, 2023. "Turning back the clock: Beliefs about gender roles during lockdown," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    8. Anne LAMBERT & Delphine REMILLON & Mariona SEGÚ, 2023. "Getting out or switching to part‐time: Gender disparities in the impacts of corporate restructuring," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(4), pages 537-560, December.
    9. Kugler, Maurice & Viollaz, Mariana & Duque, Daniel & Gaddis, Isis & Newhouse, David & Palacios-Lopez, Amparo & Weber, Michael, 2023. "How did the COVID-19 crisis affect different types of workers in the developing world?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    10. Myriam Chatot & Julie Landour & Ariane Pailhé & for the EpiCOV team, 2023. "Socioeconomic differences and the gender division of labor during the COVID‐19 lockdown: Insights from France using a mixed method," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1296-1316, July.
    11. Esposito, Piero & Mendolia, Silvia & Scicchitano, Sergio & Tealdi, Cristina, 2024. "Working from Home and Job Satisfaction: The Role of Gender and Personality Traits," IZA Discussion Papers 16751, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Hupkau, Claudia & Ruiz-Valenzuela, Jenifer & Isphording, Ingo E. & Machin, Stephen, 2023. "Labour Market Shocks and Parental Investments during the Covid-19 Pandemic," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    13. Jinho Kim & Sujeong Park & S. V. Subramanian & Taehoon Kim, 2023. "The Psychological Costs of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Heterogeneous Effects in South Korea: Evidence from a Difference-in-Differences Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 455-476, February.
    14. Bluedorn, John & Caselli, Francesca & Hansen, Niels-Jakob & Shibata, Ippei & Tavares, Marina M., 2023. "Gender and employment in the COVID-19 recession: Cross-Country evidence on “She-Cessions”," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    15. Fukai, Taiyo & Ikeda, Masato & Kawaguchi, Daiji & Yamaguchi, Shintaro, 2023. "COVID-19 and the employment gender gap in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    16. Nikolay Angelov & Daniel Waldenström, 2023. "The Economic Effects of Covid-19 in Sweden: A Report on Income, Taxes, Distribution, and Government Support Policies," CESifo Working Paper Series 10547, CESifo.
    17. Lafuente, Cristina & Ruland, Astrid & Santaeulàlia-Llopis, Raül & Visschers, Ludo, 2023. "The effects of Covid-19 on couples’ job tenures: Mothers have it worse," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    18. Cezar Santos & Michèle Tertilt, 2023. "How Families Matter for Understanding Economic Inequality," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2023_456, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    coronavirus; Covid-19; gender gaps; home production;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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