The Impact of School and Childcare Closures on Labor Market Outcomes During the Covid-19 Pandemic

29 Pages Posted: 30 Mar 2022

See all articles by Kairon Shayne Garcia

Kairon Shayne Garcia

Washington State University

Benjamin Cowan

Washington State University

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Abstract

A substantial fraction of schools and childcare facilities in the United States closed their in-person operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. These closures may carry substantial costs to the families of affected children. In this paper, we examine the impact of school and childcare closures on parental labor market outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we test whether COVID-19 school closures have a disproportionate impact on parents of school-age children (age 5-17 years old) and whether childcare closures affect parents of young children (age <5 years old) relative to others. Our results suggest that while closures have had little impact on whether parents work at all, they have had significant effects on whether parents work full time (at least 35 hours) and the number of hours worked per week. These effects are concentrated among low-educated parents, suggesting that such individuals had a more difficult time adjusting their work life to closures.

Keywords: school, Childcare, Labor supply, parent, COVID-19

Suggested Citation

Garcia, Kairon Shayne and Cowan, Benjamin, The Impact of School and Childcare Closures on Labor Market Outcomes During the Covid-19 Pandemic. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4037208 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4037208

Kairon Shayne Garcia (Contact Author)

Washington State University ( email )

Wilson Rd.
College of Business
Pullman, WA 99164
United States

Benjamin Cowan

Washington State University ( email )

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