| Title: | Labour Market Outcomes and Well-Being in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A View from the Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Hans-Martin von Gaudecker |
| Organization: | Universität Bonn & IZA |
| Copyright: | Creative Commons |
- Data from the Netherlands * Hours of work: February – September 2020 * Time use: November 2019, April 2020
- On average, women reduce one hour extra during lockdown, effect vanishes by June
- No additional effect of children being present in the household on either parent!
- Allocation of additional childcare depends on hours of work pre-CoViD: * If both parents work full-time before pandemic: roughly equal shares * Combinations FT / PT or FT / no work: Gender care gap increases
Based on 4 , Radost Holler, Lena Janys, Bettina Siflinger, Christian Zimpelmann
- LISS: Online Panel in the Netherlands, running since 2007
- Sibling of UAS * Descendant of CentERpanel * Joint usage via Open Probability-Based Panel Alliance
- Roughly 5,000 households / 7,500 individuals
- Each month, respondents get ≅30 minutes of questionnaires
- Around 85% of respondents can be linked to administrative microdata (not today)
- CoViD-19 questionnaires * March 20-31 (mild lockdown), April 6-28 (mild lockdown), May (daycare / primary schools started reopening), June, September * See https://liss-covid-19-questionnaires-documentation.readthedocs.io/ * Will mostly use hours of work
- Time use & consumption questionnaires * November 2019: Baseline * April 2020: Similar to November 2019 edition, adapted to lockdown situation * November 2020: Similar to November 2019, adapted to current situation
- Hours of work on gender × month, controls
- Large heterogeneity * Non-essential FT women reduce 3 more hours during lockdown than non-essential men * Essential FT women reduce 1.5 hours less than non-essential men
- Rich controls on RHS, exact set does not matter: * month × gender × (1, part time, essential worker, age) * month × (age, percentage of work doable from home, self-employment, profession, sector)
- Add gender × month × school children at home * No change (precise zero or hours slightly better preserved among parents) * Coefficients very similar when restricting sample to 2-parent families
- Gender division of tasks during CoViD-19: Very heterogeneous - Not back to the 1950s - Not the great equalizer - Pre-existing patterns re-inforced
- Western Europe: Work hours of women (relatively) well preserved - Consequence of highly subsidised daycare with comparably short hours? - Short school closures (≅2-3 months) very likely key
- Glimpse of hope in the long run via changed norms? - Home office acceptance rises for men, less hindrance on career path - No long commute on 2-3 days → available for childcare / emergencies