IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp14471.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Cracking under Pressure? Gender Role Attitudes toward Maternal Employment in Times of a Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Danzer, Natalia

    (Free University of Berlin)

  • Huebener, Mathias

    (Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung (BiB))

  • Pape, Astrid

    (Freie Universität Berlin)

  • Spieß, C. Katharina

    (Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung (BiB))

  • Siegel, Nico A.

    (Infratest Dimap)

  • Wagner, Gert G.

    (Max Planck Institute for Human Development)

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of Covid-19 related daycare and school closures on gender role attitudes toward maternal employment in Germany. We compare women and men with dependent children to those without children one year after the outbreak of the pandemic. Using data on gender role attitudes from 2008 through 2021, we find that fathers' egalitarian attitudes toward maternal employment dropped substantially in 2021. This drop is observed for men in West Germany, who showed a steady progression toward more egalitarian attitudes in the pre-pandemic period. Attitudes by women are not affected. These findings suggest that the pandemic not only affected the short-term allocation of housework and childcare, but also reversed recent trends toward more egalitarian gender roles.

Suggested Citation

  • Danzer, Natalia & Huebener, Mathias & Pape, Astrid & Spieß, C. Katharina & Siegel, Nico A. & Wagner, Gert G., 2021. "Cracking under Pressure? Gender Role Attitudes toward Maternal Employment in Times of a Pandemic," IZA Discussion Papers 14471, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14471
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp14471.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mathias Huebener & Sevrin Waights & C. Katharina Spiess & Nico A. Siegel & Gert G. Wagner, 2021. "Parental well-being in times of Covid-19 in Germany," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 91-122, March.
    2. Quentin Lippmann & Alexandre Georgieff & Claudia Senik, 2020. "Undoing Gender with Institutions: Lessons from the German Division and Reunification," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(629), pages 1445-1470.
    3. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew & Marcus, Jan, 2020. "Using Difference-in-Differences to Identify Causal Effects of COVID-19 Policies," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 14(2), pages 153-158.
    4. Titan Alon & Sena Coskun & Matthias Doepke & David Koll & Michèle Tertilt, 2022. "From Mancession to Shecession: Women’s Employment in Regular and Pandemic Recessions," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(1), pages 83-151.
    5. Quentin Lippmann & Alexandre Georgieff & Claudia Senik, 2020. "Undoing Gender with Institutions: Lessons from the German Division and Reunification," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(629), pages 1445-1470.
    6. Andrew Goodman-Bacon & Jan Marcus, 2020. "Difference-in-Differences to Identify Causal Effects of COVID-19 Policies," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1870, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Jessen, Jonas & Spieß, C. Katharina & Waights, Sevrin & Wrohlich, Katharina, 2021. "Sharing the Caring? The Gender Division of Care Work during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 14457, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Denise Barth & Jonas Jessen & C. Katharina Spieß & Katharina Wrohlich, 2020. "Mütter in Ost und West: Angleichung bei Erwerbstätigenquoten und Einstellungen, nicht bei Vollzeiterwerbstätigkeit," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 87(38), pages 699-706.
    9. repec:hal:journl:hal-03627187 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lucas van der Velde, 2022. "Changes in attitudes towards gender norms following childbirth," Working Papers 397, Leibniz Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (Institute for East and Southeast European Studies).
    2. 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.
    3. Doepke, Matthias & Hannusch, Anne & Kindermann, Fabian & Tertilt, Michèle, 2022. "The Economics of Fertility: A New Era," IZA Discussion Papers 15224, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. repec:hal:journl:hal-03627187 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Werner, Katharina & Woessmann, Ludger, 2021. "The Legacy of COVID-19 in Education," IZA Discussion Papers 14796, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. 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.).
    7. Boring, Anne & Moroni, Gloria, 2023. "Turning back the clock: Beliefs about gender roles during lockdown," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    8. Natalia Danzer & Sebastian Garcia-Torres & Max Friedrich Steinhardt & Luca Stella, 2024. "Women in political power and school closure during COVID times," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 39(120), pages 765-810.
    9. Christina Boll & Simone Schüller, 2023. "The Economic Well-Being of Nonresident Fathers and Custodial Mothers Revisited: The Role of Paternal Childcare," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 836-853, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mathias Huebener & Sevrin Waights & C. Katharina Spiess & Nico A. Siegel & Gert G. Wagner, 2021. "Parental well-being in times of Covid-19 in Germany," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 91-122, March.
    2. Jessen, Jonas & Schweighofer-Kodritsch, Sebastian & Weinhardt, Felix & Berkes, Jan, 2023. "Separate Housework Spheres," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277659, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Wright, Austin L. & Sonin, Konstantin & Driscoll, Jesse & Wilson, Jarnickae, 2020. "Poverty and economic dislocation reduce compliance with COVID-19 shelter-in-place protocols," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 544-554.
    4. Estefanía Galván, 2022. "Gender Identity and Quality of Employment," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(354), pages 409-436, April.
    5. Jaanika Meriküll & Maryna Tverdostup, 2020. "The Gap That Survived The Transition: The Gender Wage Gap Over Three Decades In Estonia," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 127, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    6. Ana Tribin & Karen García-Rojas & Paula Herrera-Idarraga & Leonardo Fabio Morales & Natalia Ramirez-Bustamante, 2023. "Shecession: The Downfall of Colombian Women During the Covid-19 Pandemic," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 158-193, October.
    7. Pronkina, Elizaveta & Berniell, Inés & Fawaz, Yarine & Laferrère, Anne & Mira, Pedro, 2023. "The COVID-19 curtain: Can past communist regimes explain the vaccination divide in Europe?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    8. Dilmaghani, Maryam, 2021. "The gender gap in competitive chess across countries: Commanding queens in command economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 425-441.
    9. Friedman-Sokuler, Naomi & Senik, Claudia, 2020. "From Pink-Collar to Lab Coat: Cultural Persistence and Diffusion of Socialist Gender Norms," IZA Discussion Papers 13385, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Bloem, Jeffrey R. & Salemi, Colette, 2021. "COVID-19 and conflict," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    11. José-Ignacio Antón & Rafael Grande & Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo & Fernando Pinto, 2023. "Gender Gaps in Working Conditions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 53-83, February.
    12. Alzbeta Mullerova, 2017. "Workers or mothers? Czech welfare and gender role preferences in transition," EconomiX Working Papers 2017-6, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    13. Baranov, Victoria & de Haas, Ralph & Grosjean, Pauline, 2018. "Men. Roots and Consequences of Masculinity Norms," Other publications TiSEM 6fa57f55-71bb-42c4-8cc4-d, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    14. Illing, Hannah & Oberfichtner, Michael & Pestel, Nico & Schmieder, Johannes F. & Trenkle, Simon, 2022. "Geschlechtsspezifische Arbeitsmarktwirkung der Covid-19-Pandemie," IZA Standpunkte 102, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Kai Fischer & J. James Reade & W. Benedikt Schmal, 2021. "The Long Shadow of an Infection: COVID-19 and Performance at Work," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2021-17, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    16. Antonela Miho & Alexandra Jarotschkin & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2024. "Diffusion of Gender Norms: Evidence from Stalin’s Ethnic Deportations," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 475-527.
    17. Edoardo Di Porto & Paolo Naticchioni & Vincenzo Scrutinio, 2020. "Partial Lockdown and the Spread of Covid-19: Lessons from the Italian Case," CSEF Working Papers 569, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    18. Rishabh Tyagi & Peter Eibich & Vegard Skirbekk, 2024. "Gender norms and partnership dissolution following involuntary job loss in Germany," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2024-027, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    19. Sascha O. Becker & Lukas Mergele & Ludger Woessmann, 2020. "The Separation and Reunification of Germany: Rethinking a Natural Experiment Interpretation of the Enduring Effects of Communism," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 143-171, Spring.
    20. Bansak, Cynthia & Grossbard, Shoshana & Wong, Ho-Po Crystal, 2022. "Mothers’ caregiving during COVID: The impact of marital property laws on women’s labor force status," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ALLBUS; COMPASS; COVID-19; childcare; difference-in-difference; gender role attitudes;
    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
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14471. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.