Research projects
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Paternal Leave, Child Care and Work-Life Balance
Labour economics
Senior Researcher : Jennifer Graves
Research Centre or Institution : Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
Abstract
We study the changes in the use of time dedicated to childcare and domestic chores before and after the start of the confinement period in the spring of 2020 in Spain resulting from Covid-19. Confinement served as an unanticipated exogenous shock that forced families to adjust their time allocation between paid and unpaid work. This allowed us to study the household reallocation of domestic work in response to this joint burden of often having to continue working from home, and the inability to outsource the care of children or domestic chores. To this end, we carried out two rounds of surveys, one in May and another in November of 2020.
Using this unique survey data, we show that the pandemic resulted in an increase in the gender gap in total hours worked, including paid and unpaid work. This is due to the smaller decrease in paid work hours among women that was not compensated by a smaller increase in unpaid work. We also examine the impact of the lockdown on within-household specialization patterns. We find that while men slightly increased their participation in home production, the burden continued to be borne by women, irrespective of their labor market situation. We also provide evidence that traditional explanations based on comparative advantage or time availability cannot fully account for the specialization patterns observed within households. Additional analysis supports gender norms as a plausible explanation for our findings.
Scientific Production |
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Magazine Articles | 6 |
Communications at national conferences | 2 |
Communications at international conferences | 8 |
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17
Nov
2022
Conference War and Freedom Madrid, Thursday, 17 November 2022, 19:00 hours
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25
May
2023
Conference ¿Qué efectos tiene la presencia de mujeres en el mundo académico? Evidencia de un experimento natural Madrid, Thursday, 25 May 2023, 19:00 hours
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4
Jul
2023
Coloquio online 90 seconds to Midnight: Are we really on the edge of a new cold war, or worse? online, Tuesday, 4 July 2023, 19:00 hours
- Allocation of resources and decision-making within the household: implications on individual wellbeing measured through self-reporting health levels 2015 Senior Researcher : María Teresa Blázquez Cuesta Research Centre or Institution : Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
- Dependency of the elderly in Europe: consequences of reforms on family care 2015 Senior Researcher : Matthias Kredler Research Centre or Institution : Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
- The sustainability of pensions from a demographic perspective: the increase of the female labor activity and the improvement of the relation contributors/pensioners 2016 Senior Researcher : Elisenda Rentería Pérez Research Centre or Institution : Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.
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Saskia Sassen: “La tecnología está matando a algunas ciudades”
Published on 12/01/2020
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La tasa de "ninis" vuelve a los niveles de antes de la crisis
Published on 09/18/2019
- Multigenerational Inequality in Spain Senior Researcher : Andrea Pîzzo Research Centre or Institution : Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
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