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The gender division of unpaid care work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Jessen Jonas

    (26544 European University Viadrina, Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany)

  • Spiess C. Katharina

    (Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB), Wiesbaden, Germany)

  • Waights Sevrin

    (28354 DIW Berlin, Berlin, Germany)

  • Wrohlich Katharina

    (28354 DIW Berlin, Berlin, Germany)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and related closures of day care centres and schools significantly increased the amount of care work done by parents. There has been much speculation over whether the pandemic increased or decreased gender equality in parental care work. Based on representative data for Germany from spring 2020 and winter 2021 we present an empirical analysis that shows that although gender inequality in the division of care work increased to some extent in the beginning of the pandemic, it returned to the pre-pandemic level in the second lockdown almost nine months later. These results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic neither aggravated nor lessened inequality in the division of unpaid care work among mothers and fathers in any persistent way in Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessen Jonas & Spiess C. Katharina & Waights Sevrin & Wrohlich Katharina, 2022. "The gender division of unpaid care work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 23(4), pages 641-667, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:germec:v:23:y:2022:i:4:p:641-667:n:7
    DOI: 10.1515/ger-2022-0003
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Christina Boll & Dana Müller & Simone Schüller, 2023. "Neither backlash nor convergence: dynamics of intra-couple childcare division during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 57(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Huebener, Mathias & Waights, Sevrin & Spieß, C. Katharina, 2024. "Well-Being throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany: Gendered Effects of Daycare and School Closures," IZA Discussion Papers 16907, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Hans-Martin von Gaudecker & Radost Holler & Lenard Simon & Christian Zimpelmann, 2024. "Can Work from Home Help Balance the Parental Division of Labor?," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 321, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    4. Nicole Hiekel & Mine Kühn, 2023. "Gender inequality in childcare and parental mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany. Do gender role attitudes matter?," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-007, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    5. Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia & Victoria Vernon, 2023. "Who is doing the chores and childcare in dual-earner couples during the COVID-19 era of working from home?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 519-565, June.
    6. Elsner, Benjamin & Jindal, Manvi & Mascherini, Massimiliano & Nivakoski, Sanna, 2024. "Gender Gaps in Time Use: Pan-European Evidence from School Closures during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IZA Discussion Papers 17151, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender division; domestic work; child care; day care; gender care gap; COVID-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • 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

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