TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Modestino, Alicia Sasser
AU  - Finn, Zachary
AU  - Ladge, Jamie
AU  - Lincoln, Alisa
        TI  - Childcare as Infrastructure: The Impact of COVID-19 on Childcare and Gender Equity
        PY  - 2025/Jul/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18004
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18004
        AB  - Conducting a nationally representative survey of 2,500 working parents between Mother's and Father's Day of 2020, we examine gender differences in the childcare shock during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on demographic, household, and labor market factors, we document gender differences in time use, work status, mental health, job satisfaction, and employer benefits. Using variation in pre-pandemic characteristics to measure exposure to the childcare shock, we find mothers in the more vulnerable group were 15 percentage points more likely to experience a reduction in hours due to childcare than similarly situated fathers. Although paid family leave helped narrow the gap in hours between mothers and fathers in the affected group, newer COVID-19 workplace practices such as working from home and childcare subsidies had no effect.
        KW  - household decision-making
KW  - gender differences
KW  - childcare
KW  - paid
leave
KW  - COVID-19
        ER  -