Gender Differences in the Economic and Social Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Research led by Gemma Zamarro, who holds 21st Century Endowed Chair in Teacher Quality in the department of education reform at the University of Arkansas, documents gender differences in the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the finding are that:

• Among respondents married or living together with a partner and school-age children in the household, women carried a heavier load than men in providing childcare after schools closed due to Covid-19. Compared to 14 percent of men, 44 percent of women reported being the only one in the household providing care.
• Overall, female employment dropped 13 percentage points between March and early April – from 59 percent to 46 percent – while male employment dropped 10 percentage points – from 64 percent to 54 percent. Non-college-educated women were hit the hardest by job loss.
• Among those holding the same job since March, 64 percent of college-educated mothers reported by early June that they had reduced their working hours at some point since March, compared to 36 percent of college-educated fathers and 52 percent of college-educated women without young children.
• Among married or partnered women with children in the household, the percentage with at least mild symptoms of psychological distress peaked in early April at 49 percent, 9 percentage points higher than the percentage of married or partnered women without children. One third of men with children reported at least mild symptoms of psychological distress.

Dr. Zamarro is a graduate of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in Spain. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from the Center for Monetary and Financial Studies in Madrid.

The report, Gender Differences in the Impact of COVID-19, was published by the Center for Economic and Social Research, where Dr. Zamarro is an adjunct senior economist, may be downloaded by clicking here.