Parental well-being in times of Covid-19 in Germany

Huebener, Mathias, Waights, Sevrin, Spiess, C. Katharina, Siegel, Nico A. and Wagner, Gert G. (2021) Parental well-being in times of Covid-19 in Germany. Review of Economics of the Household, 19 (1). 91 - 122. ISSN 1569-5239

Text (Huebener2021_Article_ParentalWell-beingInTimesOfCov) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB)

• Author

Abstract

We examine the effects of Covid-19 and related restrictions on individuals with dependent children in Germany. We specifically focus on the role of day care center and school closures, which may be regarded as a “disruptive exogenous shock” to family life. We make use of a novel representative survey of parental well-being collected in May and June 2020 in Germany, when schools and day care centers were closed but while other measures had been relaxed and new infections were low. In our descriptive analysis, we compare well-being during this period with a pre-crisis period for different groups. In a difference-in-differences design, we compare the change for individuals with children to the change for individuals without children, accounting for unrelated trends as well as potential survey mode and context effects. We find that the crisis lowered the relative well-being of individuals with children, especially for individuals with young children, for women, and for persons with lower secondary schooling qualifications. Our results suggest that public policy measures taken to contain Covid-19 can have large effects on family well-being, with implications for child development and parental labor market outcomes.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.springer.com/journal/11150
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
JEL classification:	D - Microeconomics > D1 - Household Behavior and Family Economics > D10 - General H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations > H75 - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education > I20 - General
Date Deposited:	26 Jan 2022 18:03
Last Modified:	17 Apr 2024 19:00
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/113559

Actions (login required)

View Item