Schools and Maternal Labor Supply: Evidence From School Reopenings in the COVID Pandemic

• In Event: Education Policy's Role in Social Equality

Abstract

School closures and the re-opening of schools at varying times across the US during the 2020-21 school year provide a novel opportunity to investigate the importance of schools as sources of childcare that allows women to participate in the labor force. This paper investigates to what extent school reopenings in the wake of COVID-19 school closures had an impact on the labor supply of women with children. I find evidence that increased mean year-over-year foot traffic to public schools and estimated school re-openings in a given geography in the 2020-21 school year were associated with statistically significant positive increases in labor market participation rates for women with children, compared to women without children and men with children.

Author

• Liliane Nienstedt, Vanderbilt University
  Presenting Author