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Impact of closing schools on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence using panel data from Japan

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  • Eiji Yamamura
  • Yoshiro Tsutsui

Abstract

The spread of the novel coronavirus disease caused schools in Japan to close to cope with the pandemic. In response to this, parents of students were obliged to care for their children during the daytime when they were usually at school. Does the increase in burden of childcare influence parents mental health? Based on short panel data from mid-March to mid-April 2020, we explored how school closures influenced the mental health of parents with school-aged children. Using the fixed effects model, we found that school closures lead to students mothers suffering from worse mental health than other females, while the fathers mental health did not differ from other males. This tendency was only observed for less educated mothers who had children attending primary school, but not those attending junior high school. The contribution of this paper is to show that school closures increased the inequality of mental health between genders and the educational background of parents.

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  • Eiji Yamamura & Yoshiro Tsutsui, 2021. "Impact of closing schools on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence using panel data from Japan," Papers 2101.08476, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2101.08476
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    2. Fukai, Taiyo & Ikeda, Masato & Kawaguchi, Daiji & Yamaguchi, Shintaro, 2021. "COVID-19 and the Employment Gender Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 14711, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. 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.
    4. Shinsuke Asakawa & Fumio Ohtake, 2021. "Impact of Temporary School Closure Due to COVID-19 on the Academic Achievement of Elementary School Students," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 21-14, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    5. 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).
    6. M. O. Oleche & D. K. Manda & R. G. Mutegi & S. Kipruto & M. K. Muriithi & P. Samoei & A. W. Ndirangu & G. Mwabu, 2023. "The gendered impacts of COVID-19 and business closure due to lockdown on wage employment in Kenya," Journal of Economic Policy and Management Issues, JEPMI, vol. 2(2), pages 31-48.
    7. Yamamura, Eiji & Tsutsui, Yoshiro, 2022. "How does the impact of the COVID-19 state of emergency change? An analysis of preventive behaviors and mental health using panel data in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    8. Eiji Yamamura & Fumio Ohtake, 2023. "Family Structure, Gender and Subjective Well-being: Effect of Child ren before and after COVID 19 in Japan," Papers 2312.04411, arXiv.org.
    9. Lauren Hoehn-Velasco & Adan Silverio-Murillo & Jose Roberto Balmori de la Miyar & Jacob Penglase, 2022. "The impact of the COVID-19 recession on Mexican households: evidence from employment and time use for men, women, and children," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 763-797, September.
    10. Tsubasa Ito & Michio Naoi & Kazuto Sumita & Qing Ye, 2024. "The Impact of Daycare Closures Owing to COVID-19 on Parental Stress: The Case of Japan," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 579-595, September.
    11. Eiji Yamamura & Yoshiro Tsutsui & Fumio Ohtake, 2023. "The Effect of Primary School Education on Preventive Behaviours during COVID-19 in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-12, May.

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    JEL classification:

    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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