Date of Award

Spring 2022

Thesis Type

Rollins Access Only

Degree Name

Honors Bachelor of Arts

Department

Sociology

Sponsor

Dr. Armenia

Committee Member

Dr. Davison

Committee Member

Dr. Gonzalez Guittar

Abstract

Women’s labor force participation is strongly shaped by their disproportionate caregiving burdens, especially parenting responsibilities. Using the Current Population Survey, this project explores how parental work arrangements are uniquely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, how parental status shapes the hours people worked in the aftermath of the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, and the factors that contributed to unemployment during these crises. Men and fathers experienced the greatest reduction in hours worked during the Great Recession, while the pandemic has shaped mothers work more significantly. Even as children were able to return to in-person school more consistently across the country, mothers’ work has remained altered, and their time spent participating in paid labor is still lower than their pre-pandemic levels. Overall, the Great Recession shaped the demand for labor while the COVID-19 pandemic shaped the context of labor, forcing parents and especially mothers to sacrifice their hours of paid labor to attend to caregiving duties. This research supports the growing call for a more robust social safety net and infrastructure of care that would better shield the most vulnerable from external circumstances like these.

Rights Holder

Emily Curran

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