Objective: This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment situation of parents and in turn on the subjective financial well-being of families with children in Austria. Background: The pandemic had strong repercussions on the Austrian labour market. The short-time work (STW) programme covered a third of employees in the first half of 2020 and helped to maintain employment levels. We provide evidence on how an unprecedented labour market crisis of this sort and in particular the exceptionally wide use of STW had affected the employment situation of parents and the financial well-being of different types of families. Method: The study draws on register data and representative panel survey data. The latter cover 905 families with minor children and include information on the employment situation of parents and the financial well-being of families before crisis onset, three months and ten months after its onset. Results: Register data show that mothers were not more strongly affected by the labour market crisis of 2020 than childless women or fathers. According to survey data, about a third of couples with minor children experienced income losses. Despite the wide use of STW and government support to families, the share of families in financial difficulties has substantially increased, especially among those with many children and single parents, many of whom were at risk of poverty already before the crisis. Conclusion: Substantial shares of dual-earner families that had low poverty risks before the crisis were in financial difficulties in 2020. Potential spill-over effects of financial shocks on children are discussed.

ZusammenfassungIn dieser Forschungsnotiz werden erste Ergebnisse der AKCOVID-Studie vorgestellt. Diese untersucht auf Basis von repräsentativen Befragungsdaten die Auswirkungen der Pandemie auf die finanzielle Lage von Familien in Österreich. Dabei wird die Situation von Haushalten mit Kindern vor Beginn der Corona-Krise (Februar 2020) mit der Situation im Frühsommer 2020 verglichen. Die deskriptiven Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein großer Teil der Familien bereits drei Monate nach Beginn der Krise die ökonomischen Folgen der Pandemie spürte und aufgrund krisenbedingter Veränderungen der elterlichen Erwerbssituation auf Teile des Haushaltseinkommens verzichten musste. Die Zahl der Familien mit finanziellen Problemen (subjektive Armutsgefährdung) stieg deutlich an, v. a. unter Alleinerziehenden und Paaren mit mehr als zwei Kindern. Damit wird deutlich, dass vor allem jene Familien, die sich bereits vor der Krise in einer vulnerablen finanziellen Situation befanden, schon sehr früh direkt von den ökonomischen Folgen der Pandemie betroffen waren. Viele Familien sorgten sich, dass sie aufgrund der Krise Einkommenseinbußen erleiden und finanzielle Probleme bekommen werden.

Objective: This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment situation of parents and in turn on the subjective financial well-being of families with children in Austria. Background: The pandemic had strong repercussions on the Austrian labour market. The short-time work (STW) programme covered a third of employees in the first half of 2020 and helped to maintain employment levels. We provide evidence on how an unprecedented labour market crisis of this sort and in particular the exceptionally wide use of STW had affected the (gendered) employment situation of parents and the financial well-being of different types of families. Method: The study draws on representative panel survey data that cover 905 families with underage children. The data include information on the employment situation and financial well-being of single and cohabiting parents before the onset of the crisis, three months and ten months after its onset. Results: In contrast to other countries, mothers were not more strongly affected by the labour market crisis of 2020 than childless women or fathers. About a third of couples with underage children experienced income losses. Despite the wide use of STW and government support to families, the share of families in financial difficulties has substantially increased, especially among those with many children and single parents, many of who were at risk of poverty already before the crisis. Conclusion: Substantial shares of dual-earner families that had low poverty risks before the crisis were in financial difficulties in 2020. Potential spill-over effects of financial shocks on children are discussed.