感谢关注China Economic Review（CER）推送公众号。CER作为一本聚焦中国经济及其与世界经济关系的原创研究成果的期刊，在经济学和金融学类期刊中获得稳步提升的影响力。
CER推送作为作者与读者的沟通平台，本公众号将定期介绍发表于CER上的文章。本次推送将介绍张丹丹、刘雅玄和赵一泠最新发表于CER上的文章 ---新冠疫情中职场妈妈面临的就业、家庭两难困局：来自中国的证据。
Gender disparity in the labor market should not be underestimated. Claudia Goldin, who won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics, believes that gender equality in the labor market largely depends on the division of labor and equality within families. The COVID-19 pandemic, as an unexpected external shock, has led to public health crises around the world, causing a global economic recession. It has also provided an opportunity for us to observe changes in the status of men and women in families when responding to external survival and economic pressures.
女性和男性在劳动力市场上的差异不容小觑，2023年经济学诺奖得主Claudia Goldin认为劳动力市场上的性别平等很大程度取决于家庭内部的分工和平等。新冠疫情作为一个始料不及的外来冲击，带来了世界各国的公共健康危机新职场妈妈，造成了全球性的经济衰退，同时也为我们观察应对外来生存和经济压力时两性在家庭中的地位变化提供了契机。
Evidence from developed countries shows that the global economic recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has had distinctly different impacts on men and women, leading to a "She-cession." China implemented the strictest pandemic prevention and control measures during the pandemic. With high female labor force participation rates, COVID-19’s impact on China's labor market and the gender differences it brought are more noteworthy.
来自发达国家的证据表明，新冠疫情引发的全球性经济衰退对男性和女性造成了截然不同的影响，出现了所谓的“女性衰退”（She-cession）。中国作为女性高劳动参与的国家，在疫情期间实行了最为严格的疫情防控，其对中国劳动力市场的冲击以及带来的性别差异更值得关注。
This article employs data from three waves of individual tracking surveys conducted in March, June, and November 2020, covering 5,866 workers in 325 cities across China. We systematically analyzed the additional economic and psychological costs of female labor compared to malelaborduring the pandemic. Our survey collected information on respondents' work status and income before, during, and after the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, which can be used to analyze gender differences at different points. In addition to detailed individual information, we extended the survey questions to spouses of sampled respondents (if any) in the two follow-up surveys. This allowed us to construct a household-level dataset of married couples to analyze within-household differences in labor market outcomes between couples.
本文利用覆盖中国 325 个城市的 5,866 名从业者，在2020年不同疫情防控时期（2020 年3 月、6 月和 11月）进行的三轮个体追踪调查数据，系统分析了女性劳动力与男性从业者相比在疫情期间承担的额外经济和心理成本。调查收集了受访者在疫情前，疫情中和疫情后工作状态和收入信息，可用于分析男女从业者在疫情不同期的就业和收入等劳动力市场结果的差异。除详细的个体信息收集外，6月和11月的追踪调查针对有配偶的受访者样本专门询问了配偶的工作状态和收入变动信息，以及与家庭分工与子女相关的问题；可据此构建家庭层面的配偶数据集，分析家庭内部夫妻双方劳动力市场结果的差异。
The first question we address is the gender difference in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labor market outcomes。 Our results show a widening gender gap in unemployment, hours worked, and monthly salary throughout 2020。 As of November 2020, compared topre-pandemic, the unemployment rate of female employees was 5。1 percentage points higher than that of male employees; women’s average working hours were 1。4 hours per day shorter than men, a 133% increase from the 0。6 hours/day difference before the pandemic; and women's wages were 2,234 RMB/month lower than men'son average, an increase of nearly 30% from the 1,725 yuan/month difference before the pandemic。
These conclusions remain valid even after controlling for occupation and industry fixed effects, ruling out the possibility that the results are mainly caused by the pandemic having a more significant impact on the industries and occupations where women are employed。 This suggests that the "She-cession" in China is more likely due to changes in individuals' willingness to supplythe labor force or employers’ gender preferences。
我们首先回答的问题是新冠疫情对男性和女性从业者的劳动力市场表现影响的差异。分析发现，疫情后失业、工作时长和工资的性别差距进一步拉大。截至2020年11月，相比疫情前，中国女性劳动力的失业率比男性高出5.1个百分点；工作时长平均每天少1.4小时，相比疫情前的0.6小时/天，性别差异扩大了133%；女性工资平均比男性低2,234元/月，比疫情前的1,725元/月扩大了近30%。以上结论在固定了男、女从业者的职业和行业后依然存在，排除了疫情对女性所在行业和职业冲击更大导致这一结果的可能。说明在中国导致“女性衰退”的原因更可能是个体的劳动参与意愿或就业市场性别偏好的变化。
Marriage and children further exacerbate the gender gaps in the labor market。 Working mothers with a child aged 0–6 experienced the most adverse labor market outcomes。 Specifically, working mothers with children under 7 were 43。8% more likely to be unemployed than women without children under 7。 Moreover, compared with working fathers with children under 7, working mothers with children under 7 bore an 181% higher unemployment risk, spent 18。6% less time on work, and earned 36。8% less per month in November 2020。
During the pandemic, lockdowns, school closures, and economic standstill intensified the traditional family division of labor in families, where “men work outside, and women take care of the home,” leading to women bearing a more significant burden of family responsibilities。 Working mothers faced a dilemma between work resumption and family responsibilities, which made them shoulder more household burdens。 Working mothers who made sacrifices seem to be less happy。 We found that the mental health of working mothers was significantly worse than other groups, which seems to indicate the enormous impact of the dual pressures of family and work during the unique circumstances of the pandemic on women。
此外，婚姻和子女进一步加剧了以上发现的劳动力市场性别差距。有学龄前子女的职场妈妈在劳动力市场中处在最为不利的地位，比有学龄前子女的职场爸爸其失业的可能性高 181%，工作时间少18.6%，劳动收入（2020年底）低36.8%。说明疫情期间的封控、学校停学、经济停摆，加剧了“男主外，女主内”的传统家庭分工，女性在复工和家庭的两难选择中承担了更多的家庭负担。作出牺牲的职场妈妈们似乎更不开心。我们发现职场妈妈的心理健康相比其他群体最为糟糕，这似乎说明了疫情特殊时期家庭和工作双向压力的存在对女性的巨大影响。
To further illustrate that the gender disparity in the labor market primarily reflects changes in the division of labor within families, we utilized the couple dataset focusing on gender differences in labor division within married couples during the pandemic. Using the information on the respondents’ and their spouses’ pre-pandemic salaries, we assessed how relative earning ability factored into differentiated work resumption decisions for a husband and wife. On average, the wife was less likely to return to work than her husband. That gap went down if the wife earned more than her husband but hardly changed if the wife earned more than her husband and the household had a child 0-6.
其次，为了进一步说明男女在劳动力市场上的差异主要反映在家庭分工的变化上，我们采用配偶数据集，将上述分析进一步聚焦在已婚夫妻内部疫情期的分工差异上。采用疫情前的工资水平，我们评估了夫妻双方相对收入（议价能力）如何影响两者的复工决策。分析发现，平均意义上妻子比丈夫复工概率更低；而收入高于丈夫的女性更有可能在封控解除后重返工作岗位，且工作时间更长；但是，如果有学龄子女，高收入妻子在优先复工和工作更长时间方面的高议价能力不复存在。
Our results underscore that the COVID-19 shock exacerbated the gendered income gap. This change mainly stems from the labor division within families under emergency conditions. During this particular period, working mothers took on more family responsibilities and faced more significant employment impacts, experiencing more severe mental health. Moreover, we found that the gender gap in the labor market tends to widen even after the pandemic ends. The situation for working mothers is unlikely to improve fundamentally in the short term.
总之，本研究发现新冠疫情加剧了中国劳动力市场上的性别收入差距，这一变化主要来自于应急状态下家庭内部的分工变化。在特殊时期，职场妈妈承担了更多的家庭责任和更大的就业冲击，也经历了更为严重的心理损伤。另外，我们发现疫情结束后劳动力市场的性别差距仍有扩大趋势，短期内职场妈妈的状况难以得到根本的改善。
This study calls for attention to vulnerable groups at the household level during emergencies. Women face the dilemma of childcare and working, and their mental health has a significant impact on the next generation with whom they spend day and night. Therefore, families, employers, and society needto support women more robustly.
本研究呼吁在应急情况下，需要关注家庭层面的弱势群体，女性面临着照顾子女和工作之间的两难选择，其心理健康状况对于朝夕相处的下一代来说影响巨大，因此家庭、就业单位和社会均需要为女性提供更多、更有力的支持。
作者简介：
张丹丹 (Dandan Zhang):北京大学国家发展研究院经济学教授、博士生导师、北大博雅青年学者、教育部长江青年学者。现任北京大学国家发展研究院副院长新职场妈妈，中国劳动经济学会常务理事。张丹丹毕业于澳大利亚国立大学，获经济学博士学位，研究领域为劳动经济学、应用计量经济学和实验经济学，特别关注转型期弱势群体的福利问题，以及社会变革、制度文化冲击对人行为的影响。
刘雅玄(Yaxuan Liu):北京大学硕士生。研究兴趣包括劳动经济学、行为经济学、公司金融、宏观金融等。
赵一泠 (Yiling Zhao)（通讯作者）: 北京大学经济学院助理教授，获得美国西北大学经济学博士学位，研究领域为经济史和劳动经济学。其研究主要关注历史事件对人力资本积累和偏好的影响。
