Are we all in this together? Alleviating the childcare constraint for women in economic crises

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to advocates the use of gendered economic policies to stimulate a post-COVID-19 recovery. It alerts on the risk of ignoring the female dimension of the current crisis and of resorting again to austerity programs that, like the ones enacted after the 2008 crisis, would hit women and mothers disproportionally harder than other groups.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use data from the British Household Panel Survey on female participation and account for gendered constraints and enablers missed by mainstream economics. Using a sequential empirical approach, the authors simulate various welfare policy scenarios that address factors, such as childcare costs, personal and social nudges, that could help women back into the labor market in the aftermath of a crisis.Findings The authors found that incentive-type interventions, such as subsidies, promote female labor market participation more effectively than punishment-austerity type interventions, such as benefits' cuts. Policies oriented to alleviate childcare constraints can be sustainable and effective in encouraging women back to work. Considering factors wider than the standard economic variables when designing labor market policies may provide fruitful returns.Originality/valueThe sequential methodology enables to estimate current and counterfactual incomes for each female in the sample and to calculate their prospective financial gains and losses in changing their labor market status quo, from not employed into employed or vice-versa. Welfare policies affect these prospective gains and losses and, by interacting with other factors, such as education, number and age of children and social capital, prompt changes in women's labor market choices and decision.

Professional Activation of Women and Flexible Forms of Employment, as Exemplified by Gig Economy

“…Policies oriented to alleviate childcare constraints can be sustainable and effective in encouraging women back to work. Considering factors wider than the standard economic variables when designing labor market policies can yield tangible results in terms of increasing women's workforce participation (Cagliesi & Hawkes, 2021).…”

The influence of nonwork resources, nonwork demands and external support on work engagement and productivity: A moderated mediation model

“…Various studies also suggest that women, in general, bear the brunt of child and family care (Cagliesi & Hawkes, 2021). These studies reported that mothers reduced their working hours compared to their male counterparts.…”

“…An integrated questionnaire was used to collect the data. Extant research by scholars such asCagliesi and Hawkes (2021),Cheche et al (2019) andDas et al (2021) suggests the influence of specific demographic variables on the constructs in use. Based on their submissions, the following demographic data were collected: marital status, gender, level of work, parenting and age.…”