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The Summer Drop in Female Employment

Author

Listed:
  • Price, Brendan
  • Wasserman, Melanie
Abstract
We provide the first systematic account of summer declines in women’s labor market activity. From May to July, the employment-to-population ratio among prime-age US women declines by 1.1 percentage points, whereas male employment rises; women’s total hours worked fall by 11 percent, twice the decline among men. School closures for summer break—and corresponding lapses in implicit childcare—provide a unifying explanation for these patterns. The summer drop in female employment aligns with cross-state differences in the timing of school closures, is concentrated among mothers with young school-age children, and coincides with increased time spent engaging in childcare. Decomposing the gender gap in summer work interruptions across job types defined by sector and occupation, we find large contributions from both gender differences in job allocation and gender differences within jobs in the propensity to exit employment over the summer. Summer childcare constraints may contribute to gender gaps in career choice and earnings: women—particularly those with young school-age children—disproportionately work in the education sector, which offers greater summer flexibility but lower compensation relative to comparable jobs outside of education.

Suggested Citation

  • Price, Brendan & Wasserman, Melanie, 2022. "The Summer Drop in Female Employment," CEPR Discussion Papers 17354, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:17354
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Why does women’s employment change with the seasons? : An answer from the NBER
      by ? in FRED blog on 2023-09-14 13:00:00

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    Cited by:

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    2. Kalin, Salla & Kyyrä, Tomi & Matikka, Tuomas, 2023. "Combining Part-time Work and Social Benefits: Empirical Evidence from Finland," Working Papers 159, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Schroeter, Sofia & Lalive, Rafael & Karunanethy, Kalaivani, 2024. "School Closures and Parental Labor Supply: Differential Effects of Anticipated and Unanticipated Closures," IZA Discussion Papers 17371, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Philippe, Arnaud & Skandalis, Daphné, 2023. "Motherhood and the Cost of Job Search," IZA Discussion Papers 16669, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Linsenmeier, Manuel, 2024. "Seasonal temperature variability and economic cycles," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender gap; Seasonality; Labor force participation; Childcare; Time use; School closure;
    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
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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