Baby steps: the gender division of childcare during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The nature and scale of the shocks to the demand for, and the supply of, home childcare during the COVID-19 pandemic provide a unique opportunity to increase our understanding of the division of home labour and the determinants of specialization within the household. We collected real-time data on daily lives to document the impact of measures to control COVID-19 on UK families with children under the age of 12. We document that these families have been doing the equivalent of a working week in childcare, with mothers bearing most of the burden. The additional hours of childcare done by women are less sensitive to their employment than they are for men, leaving many women juggling work and (a lot more) childcare, with likely adverse effects on their mental health and future careers. However, some households, those in which men have not been working, have taken greater steps towards an equal allocation, offering the prospect of sharing the burden of childcare more equally in the future.

The impact of closing schools on working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence using panel data from Japan

“…Our findings are consistent with the argument of gender identity (Akerlof and Kranton 2000 ). By contrast, Sevilla and Smith ( 2020 ) analyzed gender allocation of childcare within couples with children aged < 12 years in the United Kingdom and found that the gender childcare gap has become smaller than before the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…Other works have analyzed home-stay behavior (Doganoglu and Ozdenoren 2020 ; Engle et al 2020 ; Yamamura and Tsutsui 2020 ) and remote work (Hatayama et al 2020 ) under COVID-19. However, other than Sevilla and Smith ( 2020 ), not many studies have investigated how school closure affects parents’ work from home and causes gender differences in work styles during the pandemic. This study contributes by analyzing the said topic in Japan, where workers can choose their working style even in an emergency situation.…”

“…Other works have analyzed home-stay behavior (Doganoglu and Ozdenoren 2020;Engle et al 2020;Yamamura and Tsutsui 2020) and remote work (Hatayama et al 2020) under COVID-19. However, other than Sevilla and Smith (2020), not many studies have investigated how school closure affects parents' work from home and causes gender differences in work styles during 1 Self-care after school leads to an increased risk of skipping school and use of alcohol and drugs (Aizer 2004). Economic recessions increase teenagers' risky behaviors (Pabilonia 2017).…”

Gender Equality and Public Policy during COVID-19

“…(2020) use survey data collected in May 2020 in Spain to show that women are more likely to lose their job than men and that, while men increase their participation in housework and childcare, most of the burden falls on women. Sevilla and Smith (2020) focus on childcare in the UK and show that women bear the majority (around 63%) of the extra burden during COVID-19. This is partly due to the fact that during the pandemic women are less likely to work than men.…”

Why Is Mommy So Stressed? Estimating the Immediate Impact of the "COVID-19 Shock" on Parental Attachement to the Labor Market and the Double-Bind of Mothers

“…Research has also shown that on average, mothers tend to shift more resources toward children's education, clothes, and other household goods than fathers when they control resources (Lundberg et al 1996, Quisumbing & Maluccio 1999, Rubalcava et al 2004, Rangel 2006, Rosero & Schady 2007, Nunley & Seals 2011, Heggeness 2020a). An extension of this artifact in the current situation is that during a national crisis that closes schools, mothers will invest more of their own time and resources into home schooling, childcare, and domestic tasks than fathers (Sevilla & Smith 2020). One would be concerned about equality in the household if, for example, more mothers shift out of the labor market to assume childcare responsibilities, especially if they do not return to the labor market.…”