The evolving impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on gender inequality in the US labor market: The COVID motherhood penalty

C-Tier
Journal: Economic Inquiry
Year: 2022
Volume: 60
Issue: 2
Pages: 485-507

Authors (3)

Kenneth A. Couch (not in RePEc) Robert W. Fairlie (University of California-Los A...) Huanan Xu (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.335 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 0.5x C-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

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.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:ecinqu:v:60:y:2022:i:2:p:485-507
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25