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Title: Mothers' Caregiving during COVID: The Impact of Divorce Laws and Homeownership on Women's Labor Force Status

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2021

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Abstract: We investigate women’s likelihood of withdrawing from paid labor to care for children and help them with schoolwork as a result of COVID and school closures. Were women more likely to shift out of paid labor in states where property-division rules would better protect the financial interests of stay-at-home parents? Such higher protection is offered in states with community property regimes or with homemaking provisions, the alternative being equitable-division and no homemaking provisions. We use monthly data from the U.S. Current Population Survey and compare the labor force participation of women with children in grades K-6 between 2019 and 2020, before and after COVID started. We find an association between marital property laws offering women more financial protection and women’s labor supply response to COVID-19, especially among non-immigrants.

Url: https://ftp.iza.org/dp14408.pdf

Url: https://docs.iza.org/dp14408.pdf

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Authors: Bansak, Cynthia; Grossbard, Shoshana; Wong, Ho-Po Crystal

Series Title: IZA Discussion Paper Series

Publication Number: 14408

Institution: IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Pages: 1-31

Publisher Location: Bonn

Data Collections: IPUMS USA, IPUMS CPS

Topics: Education, Family and Marriage, Gender, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Population Health and Health Systems

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