%0 Report
        %A Danzer, Natalia
%A Garcia-Torres, Sebastian
%A Steinhardt, Max F.
%A Stella, Luca
        %T Women in Political Power and School Closure during COVID Times
        %D 2023
        %8 2023 Feb
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 15975
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp15975
        %X This study explores the relationship between women's representation in political power and school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a cross-country dataset in Europe, we document a striking negative relationship between the share of female members in national governments and school closures. We show that a one standard deviation increase in female members of national governments is associated with a reduction in the likelihood of school lockdowns by 24% relative to the average share of school closures. 
This result is robust to an extensive set of sensitivity checks. We attribute this pattern to a higher awareness of female politicians about the potential costs that school closures imply for families. 
        %K gender
%K COVID-19
%K school closures
%K political economy