Well-being throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: Gendered effects of daycare and school closures

Abstract

In this chapter, we aim to improve the understanding of the well-being impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. We provide an overview of the existing literature and carry out empirical analysis aimed at addressing certain gaps in the knowledge. Specifically, we examine the evolution of parental well-being over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany and relate changes to the severity of restrictions on school and daycare facilities. Our analysis makes use of unique data from the COMPASS survey collected at 17 different point throughout the pandemic in Germany. We find that there is a large difference in retrospective stress-feelings between women and men that is present only for individuals living with children under the age of 12. We also show that the size of the gender gap in life satisfaction fluctuates over time in a way that is related to severity of restrictions to daycare and school operation.