(joint with Benjamin Elsner, Massimiliano Mascherini, & Sanna Nivakoski)
Abstract: We study the impact of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic on the time allocated to paid and unpaid work within households. We use panel data from 27 EU countries and isolate the impact of school closures by comparing parents and non-parents. We find no evidence that school closures had a disproportionate impact on women or men. Women and men reduced the time spent on paid work and increased the amount of time spent on household chores and leisure in roughly equal amounts. These findings do not confirm the common concern that school closures increased the care burden for women.
The Effects of Public Health and Social Measures (PHSMs) on Mental Health: Pan-European Quantile Regression Analysis. [Policy Brief]
(joint with Massimiliano Mascherini)
A Quantile Regression Analysis of Mental Health Outcomes under COVID‑19 Public Health and Social Measures across 27 EU Countries
Abstract: This policy note examines how COVID‑19 public health and social measures (PHSMs) have affected mental health across all 27 EU member states, using quantile regression to capture distributional impacts. The analysis finds that while PHSMs helped “flatten the curve” of infections, they also widened pre-existing mental health gaps. Mental well-being declined overall for certain demographic groups and those already at lower levels of mental health disproportionately affected and less resilient.