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Is the Recession a ‘Shecession’? Gender Inequality in the Employment Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany

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  • Moehring, Katja

    (University of Mannheim)

  • Reifenscheid, Maximiliane
  • Weiland, Andreas

Abstract

This paper evaluates gender inequality in employment risks during the first and the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. We use individual-level panel data collected weekly between 20 March and 9 July 2020, and again in January 2021, to examine the risks of short-time work, job loss and unpaid furlough, as well as having to work on-site by means of growth curve modelling. The results reveal gender inequality in employment risks and gendered use of governmental support schemes. During the early phase of the pandemic, women had a higher probability of being temporarily exempted from work, but a lower probability of being in short-time work and receiving the associated state benefits. Compared to men, women also continuously had a higher probability of working on-site rather that from home. Consequently, women’s employment during the pandemic is more polarized between job loss or working on-site with the associated infection risk. Gender inequalities are rooted in the long-term gendered dualization of the German labour market with the low-wage sector and marginal employment being female dominated. The results call for close monitoring of long-term gendered effects of the pandemic recession and an adjustment of governmental crisis measures to the requirements of the female workforce.

Suggested Citation

  • Moehring, Katja & Reifenscheid, Maximiliane & Weiland, Andreas, 2021. "Is the Recession a ‘Shecession’? Gender Inequality in the Employment Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany," SocArXiv tzma5, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:tzma5
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/tzma5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Doepke, M. & Tertilt, M., 2016. "Families in Macroeconomics," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1789-1891, Elsevier.
    2. Anna Hammerschmid & Julia Schmieder & Katharina Wrohlich, 2020. "Frauen in Corona-Krise stärker am Arbeitsmarkt betroffen als Männer," DIW aktuell 42, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Michael C. Burda & Jennifer Hunt, 2011. "What Explains the German Labor Market Miracle in the Great Recession," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 42(1 (Spring), pages 273-335.
    4. Titan Alon & Matthias Doepke & Jane Olmstead-Rumsey & Michèle Tertilt, 2020. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Gender Equality," NBER Working Papers 26947, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Dandan & Liu, Yaxuan & Zhao, Yiling, 2024. "Working mothers' dilemma during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. Christina Boll & Dana Müller & Simone Schüller, 2021. "Neither Backlash nor Convergence: Dynamics of Intracouple Childcare Division after the First Covid-19 Lockdown and Subsequent Reopening in Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 9091, CESifo.
    3. Titan Alon & Sena Coskun & Matthias Doepke & David Koll & Michèle Tertilt, 2022. "From Mancession to Shecession: Women’s Employment in Regular and Pandemic Recessions," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(1), pages 83-151.
    4. Nurgun Kul Parlak & Ayse Nur Ciftci, 2022. "Pandeminin Kayit Disi Istihdami Dislama Etkisi: Turkiye’de Formel-Enformel Emek Piyasalarindaki Ayrisma," Journal of Social Policy Conferences, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 0(82), pages 93-135, June.

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