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Working Parents, Financial Insecurity, and Child-Care: Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Tani, Massimiliano

    (University of New South Wales)

  • Cheng, Zhiming

    (University of New South Wales)

  • Mendolia, Silvia

    (University of Torino)

  • Paloyo, Alfredo R.

    (University of Wollongong)

  • Savage, David

    (University of Newcastle, Australia)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the policy measures to control its spread – lockdowns, physical distancing, and social isolation – has coincided with the deterioration of people's mental well-being. We use data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) to document how this phenomenon is related to the situation of working parents who now have to manage competing time demands across the two life domains of work and home. We show that the worsening of mental health in the United Kingdom is worse for working parents, and that it is especially related to the increased financial insecurity and the time spent on childcare and home schooling. We find that this burden is not shared equally between men and women, and between richer and poorer households. In crafting public policy responses to the pandemic, better outcomes can be achieved if policymakers are cognizant of these inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Tani, Massimiliano & Cheng, Zhiming & Mendolia, Silvia & Paloyo, Alfredo R. & Savage, David, 2020. "Working Parents, Financial Insecurity, and Child-Care: Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19," IZA Discussion Papers 13588, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13588
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tim Robinson, 2006. "Work, Leisure and the Environment," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12615.
    2. 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.
    3. Satvika Chalasani, 2007. "The changing relationship between parents’ education and their time with children," electronic International Journal of Time Use Research, Research Institute on Professions (Forschungsinstitut Freie Berufe (FFB)) and The International Association for Time Use Research (IATUR), vol. 4(1), pages 93-117, September.
    4. Davillas, Apostolos & M. Jones, Andrew, 2020. "The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on inequality of opportunity in psychological distress in the UK," ISER Working Paper Series 2020-07, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    5. James Banks & Xiaowei Xu, 2020. "The Mental Health Effects of the First Two Months of Lockdown during the COVID‐19 Pandemic in the UK," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 685-708, September.
    6. Patrick Bauer & Lyudmyla Sonchak, 2017. "The effect of macroeconomic conditions on parental time with children: evidence from the American time use survey," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 905-924, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Apostolos Davillas & Andrew M Jones, 2021. "The first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic and its impact on socioeconomic inequality in psychological distress in the UK," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 1668-1683, July.
    2. Werner, Katharina & Woessmann, Ludger, 2021. "The Legacy of COVID-19 in Education," IZA Discussion Papers 14796, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Lawrence M Berger & Giulia Ferrari & Marion Leturcq & Lidia Panico & Anne Solaz, 2021. "COVID-19 lockdowns and demographically-relevant Google Trends: A cross-national analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-28, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    mental health; childcare; United Kingdom; working parents; financial insecurity; COVID-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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