School closures and restrictions on in-person learning during the pandemic led primarily to mothers of elementary-aged children reducing their working hours, according to a new study from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin. The findings were reported by the Funke media group.
The study revealed that the probability of mothers of elementary-aged children being employed full-time dropped by 4.8 percent following the school closures. Overall employment, combining both full-time and part-time work, remained unchanged, meaning these mothers worked less but did not quit the workforce entirely.
In contrast, the likelihood of fathers being employed full-time or part-time actually increased by 5.2 percent, which the DIW suggests may have been an attempt to offset household income losses. The data also showed differences based on marital status: the effect was more pronounced among married couples with only elementary-aged children than among unmarried couples in the same age group.
Markus Grabka, a co-author of the study, told the Funke newspapers that this suggests that married couples tended to adhere more closely to classical gender roles than unmarried ones. The DIW found no comparable effects in families with older children, possibly because the older children participated in caregiving duties. The research, however, did not examine how long this effect lasted or whether the affected mothers increased their working hours again after school restrictions were lifted.
The DIW investigated this effect using a difference-in-differences approach, leveraging the fact that different districts gradually introduced restrictions on in-person learning at varying times. The researchers relied on data from the Socioeconomic Panel spanning from January 2019 to December 2021.
Grabka warned that the pandemic and similar crises risk reinforcing pre-existing inequalities. He noted that women are already disadvantaged in many areas of professional life, such as regarding wage gaps or lower pension entitlements. He argued that if mothers predominantly cut back on their employment due to the higher salaries of men, this indicates a structural issue. He stressed that the frameworks should be set so that both parents can maintain their desired level of employment during a crisis.
Grabka highlighted that expanding all-day schooling is a crucial step toward better balancing work and childcare and must now be financially supported and implemented by the federal states. He also stated that employers hold a responsibility in this process. Furthermore, increasing hybrid work and home office options provide mothers with a greater opportunity to better combine family life and work even during crises.
