Occupations and Sickness-Related Absences during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Pandemic frontline occupations consist of disproportionately low socioeconomic status and racial minority workers. Documenting occupational health disparities is therefore crucial for understanding COVID-19-related health inequalities in the United States. This study uses Current Population Survey microdata to estimate occupational differences in sickness-related absences (SAs) from work in March through June 2020 and their contribution to educational, racial-ethnic, and nativity health disparities. We find that there has been an unprecedented rise in SAs concentrated in transportation, food-related, and personal care and service occupations. SA rates were 6 times higher in these occupations than in non-health-care professions. The greatest increases were in occupations that are unsuitable for remote work, require workers to work close to others, pay low wages, and rarely provide health insurance. Workers in these occupations are disproportionately Black, Hispanic, indigenous, and immigrants. Occupation contributes 41% of the total of Black/white differences and 54% of educational differences in SAs.

Telecommuting and gender inequalities in parents' paid and unpaid work before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: This study examines the relationship between telecommuting and gender inequalities in parents' time use at home and on the job before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: Telecommuting is a potential strategy for addressing the competing demands of work and home and the gendered ways in which they play out. Limited evidence is mixed, however, on the implications of telecommuting for mothers' and fathers' time in paid and unpaid work. The massive increase in telecommuting due to COVID-19 underscores the critical need to address this gap in the literature. Method: Data from the 2003-2018 American Time Use Survey (N = 12,519) and the 2020 Current Population Survey (N = 83,676) were used to estimate the relationship between telecommuting and gender gaps in parents' time in paid and unpaid work before and during the pandemic. Matching and quasi-experimental methods better approximate causal relationships than prior studies. Results: Before the pandemic, telecommuting was associated with larger gender gaps in housework and work disruptions but smaller gender gaps in childcare, particularly among couples with two full-time earners. During the pandemic, telecommuting mothers maintained paid work to a greater extent than mothers working on-site, whereas fathers' work hours did not differ by work location. Conclusion: In the context of weak institutional support for parenting, telecommuting may offer mothers a mechanism for maintaining work hours and reducing gender gaps in childcare, while exacerbating inequalities in housework and disruptions to paid work.

Parents' work arrangements and gendered time use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: This study uses time diaries to examine how parents' work arrangements shaped their time use at home and work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: The pandemic transformed home and work life for parents, disrupting employment and childcare. The shift to work from home offered more flexibility to manage increased care burdens, but the lack of separation between work and family also likely contributed to more challenging work environments, especially among mothers. Method: This study relies on the 2017-2020 American Time Use Survey and matching to estimate changes in time use among parents working from home and on site in the pandemic relative to comparable parents prior to the pandemic. Results: Data showed no overall increases in primary childcare time among working parents. Parents working from home during the pandemic, however, spent more time in the presence of children and supervising children, much in combination with paid work. Mothers working from home increased their supervisory parenting while working for pay more than fathers, and they more often changed their paid work schedules. The study's main findings were robust to gendered unemployment and labor force exits. Conclusion: Parents, especially mothers, working from home responded to childcare demands through multitasking and schedule changes with potential negative effects on work quality and stress. Parents working on site during the pandemic experienced smaller changes in time use. Implications: The pandemic has generated new inequalities between those with and without the flexibility to work from home, and exacerbated gender inequalities among those working from home.