Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/234987 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 1951
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper studies the effects of Covid-19 related daycare and school closures on gender role attitudes toward maternal employment in Germany. We compare women and men with dependent children to those without children one year after the outbreak of the pandemic. Using data on gender role attitudes from 2008 through 2021, we find that fathers' egalitarian attitudes toward maternal employment dropped substantially in 2021. This drop is observed for men in West Germany, who showed a steady progression toward more egalitarian attitudes in the pre-pandemic period. Attitudes by women are not affected. These findings suggest that the pandemic not only affected the short-term allocation of housework and childcare, but also reversed recent trends toward more egalitarian gender roles.
Subjects: 
Covid-19
gender role attitudes
childcare
difference-in-difference
ALLBUS
COMPASS
JEL: 
J13
J16
J18
J22
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
349.96 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.