Who is doing the chores and childcare in dual-earner couples during the COVID-19 era of working from home?

In 2020-21, parents' work-from-home days increased three-and-a-half-fold following the initial COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns compared to 2015-19. At the same time, many schools offered virtual classrooms and daycares closed, increasing the demand for household-provided childcare. Using weekday workday time diaries from American Time Use Survey and looking at parents in dual-earner couples, we examine parents' time allocated to paid work, chores, and childcare in the COVID-19 era by the couple's joint work location arrangements.

Telework, Wages, and Time Use in the United States.

Using data on full-time wage and salary workers from the 2017-2018 American Time Use Survey Leave and Job Flexibilities Module, we estimate hourly wage differentials for teleworkers and compare how workers allocate their time over the day when they work from home rather than the office. We find that some teleworkers earn a wage premium, but it varies by gender, parental status, and teleworking intensity. Fathers who telework earn more than fathers in office-based jobs, regardless of teleworking intensity.