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Turning back the clock: Beliefs about gender roles during lockdown

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  • Anne Boring

    (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Tinbergen Institute - Tinbergen Institute, LIEPP - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire d'évaluation des politiques publiques (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po)

  • Gloria Moroni

    (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Tinbergen Institute - Tinbergen Institute)

Abstract

We study the impact of lockdown measures on beliefs about gender roles. We collect data from a representative sample of 1,000 individuals in France during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. To measure beliefs about gender roles, we use questions from the 2018 wave of the European Values Study, and match respondents from the two surveys to compare beliefs before and during lockdown. We find evidence that the lockdown period was associated with a shift towards more traditional beliefs about gender roles. The effects are concentrated among men from the most time-constrained households and from households where bargaining with a partner over sharing responsibility for household production was likely to be an issue. Finally, we find evidence that beliefs about gender equality may be a luxury good: beliefs in equal gender roles increase with household income. Overall, our results suggest that men are more likely to hold egalitarian beliefs about gender roles when these beliefs are not costly for them.

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  • Anne Boring & Gloria Moroni, 2022. "Turning back the clock: Beliefs about gender roles during lockdown," Working Papers hal-03627187, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03627187
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-03627187
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    Cited by:

    1. Kabir Dasgupta & Linda Kirkpatrick & Alexander Plum, 2024. "Parental Employment at the Onset of the Pandemic: Effects of Lockdowns and Government Policies," Working Papers 2024-02, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.
    2. Elsner, Benjamin & Jindal, Manvi & Mascherini, Massimiliano & Nivakoski, Sanna, 2024. "Gender Gaps in Time Use: Pan-European Evidence from School Closures during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IZA Discussion Papers 17151, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Kabir Dasgupta & Linda Kirkpatrick & Alexander Plum, 2024. "Parental Employment at the Onset of the Pandemic: Effects of Lockdowns and Government Policies," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2024-012, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender norms; household production; COVID-19; time constraints; bargaining;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • 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

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