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The role of childcare challenges in the US jobs market recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Jason Furman

    (Peterson Institute for International Economics)

  • Melissa S. Kearney

    (University of Maryland; Aspen Economic Strategy Group)

  • Wilson Powell III

    (Harvard Kennedy School)

Abstract
This working paper examines how much of the overall decline in employment between the beginning of 2020 and 2021 can be explained by excess job loss among parents of young children, and mothers specifically. Using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the authors confirm that, in general, mothers with young children have experienced a larger decline in employment, as compared (unconditionally) with other adults, including fathers. This excess job loss is driven by mothers without a four-year college degree. The main point of the paper is to build off this observation and examine how much of the aggregate employment deficit in early 2021 can be explained by parent-specific issues, such as childcare struggles. To examine this question, the authors construct counterfactual employment rates and labor force participation rates that assign to mothers of young children the percent change in employment and labor force participation rates experienced by comparable women without young children. The paper considers multiple definition, sample, and counterfactual specification alternatives. The analysis yields robust evidence that differential job loss among mothers of young children accounts for a negligible share of the ongoing aggregate employment deficit. The result is even stronger (and flips signs) if all parents are considered, since fathers with young children experienced less job loss than other men. The practical implication of these findings is that nearly all of the aggregate ongoing employment deficit is explained by factors that affect workers more broadly, as opposed to challenges specific to working parents.

Suggested Citation

  • Jason Furman & Melissa S. Kearney & Wilson Powell III, 2021. "The role of childcare challenges in the US jobs market recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic," Working Paper Series WP21-8, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:iie:wpaper:wp21-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lee, Shawna J. & Ward, Kaitlin P. & Chang, Olivia D. & Downing, Kasey M., 2021. "Parenting activities and the transition to home-based education during the COVID-19 pandemic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    2. Misty L. Heggeness, 2020. "Estimating the immediate impact of the COVID-19 shock on parental attachment to the labor market and the double bind of mothers," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1053-1078, December.
    3. Jonathan I. Dingel & Christina Patterson & Joseph Vavra, 2020. "Childcare Obligations Will Constrain Many Workers When Reopening the US Economy," Working Papers 2020-46, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Alfonsi, Livia & Namubiru, Mary & Spaziani, Sara, 2022. "Gender Gaps: Back and Here to Stay? Evidence from Skilled Ugandan Workers during COVID-19," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt44s4b2dk, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    2. John G. Fernald & Huiyu Li, 2022. "The Impact of COVID on Productivity and Potential Output," Working Paper Series 2022-19, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    3. Price, Brendan & Wasserman, Melanie, 2022. "The Summer Drop in Female Employment," CEPR Discussion Papers 17354, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2023. "Long Social Distancing," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(S1), pages 129-172.
    5. Livia Alfonsi & Mary Namubiru & Sara Spaziani, 2024. "Gender gaps: back and here to stay? Evidence from skilled Ugandan workers during COVID-19," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 999-1046, September.
    6. Chatterji Pinka & Li Yue, 2023. "Recovery from the COVID-19 Recession: Uneven Effects among Young Workers?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 23(3), pages 821-842, July.
    7. Koppa, Vijetha & West, Jeremy, 2022. "School reopenings, COVID-19, and employment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    8. Bozena Wielgoszewska & Alex Bryson & Monica Costa-Dias & Francesca Foliano & Heather Joshi & David Wilkinson, 2021. "Exploring the Reasons for Labour Market Gender Inequality a Year into the Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the UK Cohort Studies," DoQSS Working Papers 21-23, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    9. Katherine Lim & Mike Zabek, 2024. "Women’s Labor Force Exits During COVID-19: Differences by Motherhood, Race, and Ethnicity," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 504-527, September.
    10. Hu, Jiayin & Wang, Xuan & Yang, Qingxu & Yi, Junjian, 2024. "Gender disparities in the labor market during COVID-19 lockdowns: Evidence from online job postings and applications in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 199-215.
    11. Larrimore, Jeff & Mortenson, Jacob & Splinter, David, 2022. "Earnings shocks and stabilization during COVID-19," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    12. Janice C. dup Eberly & John dup Fernald, 2022. "Jackson Hole 2022 - Reassessing Economic Constraints: Potential Output (The Impact of COVID on Productivity and Potential Output)," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, August.
    13. Joe Piacentini & Harley Frazis & Peter B. Meyer & Michael Schultz & Leo Sveikauskas, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Labor Markets and Inequality," Economic Working Papers 551, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    14. Kairon Shayne D. Garcia & Benjamin W. Cowan, 2022. "The Impact of U.S. School Closures on Labor Market Outcomes during the COVID-19 Pandemic," NBER Working Papers 29641, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Kwon, Sarah Jiyoon, 2023. "Grandparents and Parental Labor Supply during COVID-19 Pandemic," OSF Preprints jxyvn, Center for Open Science.
    16. Daniel Chiquiar & Aldo Heffner, 2024. "Efectos heterogéneos de la pandemia del COVID-19 sobre el empleo femenino y masculino en México/Heterogeneous effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Mexico’s female and male employment," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 39(1), pages 3-59.
    17. Misty Heggeness & Palak Suri, 2021. "Telework, Childcare, and Mothers’ Labor Supply," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 52, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    18. Despina Gavresi & Anastasia Litina & George Mavropoulos & Sofia Tsitou, 2024. "The Role of Gender and Family Norms on the COVID-19 Spread in Europe," Discussion Paper Series 2024_06, Department of Economics, University of Macedonia, revised Jun 2024.
    19. Pizzinelli, Carlo & Shibata, Ippei, 2023. "Has COVID-19 induced labor market mismatch? Evidence from the US and the UK," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor markets; Employment; COVID-19; Parents; United States;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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