The Differential Effects of Pandemic Parenting

Abstract

In this essay, we reflect on our early predictions for what life in a pandemic would be like for academic parents and consider what academic institutions must do to help faculty recover from the long-term disruption of Covid-19. In March 2020, we wrote a brief commentary on the differential effects of school closures-related to snow days, holidays, and pandemics-on faculty in primary caregiver roles, urging decision-makers in higher education to account for the inequities we could foresee, based on our research on gender, bias, and academic parenthood. In that essay, we observed that reliable, safe, high-quality childcare in the United States is scarce and expensive in normal years, and that the pandemic has exacerbated the childcare crisis. We offer insights into the challenges that working parents face, and policy-oriented solutions that academic institutions can implement to address the pandemic-induced productivity gap.