Current Research.
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I am currently engaged in a number of projects that seek to better understand and reduce family inequality. These projects focus on parental leave, work-family dynamics more generally, and how parents' division of labor has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Parents' Division of Labor during COVID-19
This project seeks to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the ways in which parents divide domestic labor, as well as what consequences these changes have for families. This is a collaborative project with Daniel L. Carlson (University of Utah) and Joanna R. Pepin (University at Buffalo, SUNY).
Changes in Parents' Domestic Labor During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Initial evidence suggests that the pandemic has both exacerbated and reduced gender inequality in domestic labor. See details in our research briefs:
Media coverage of this project can be found at:
A Gendered Pandemic: Childcare, Homeschooling, and Parents' Employment During COVID-19
We also find the loss of non-parental childcare and homeschooling requirements have increased the risk of unemployment and reduced work hours among mothers. However, father involvement in childcare before the pandemic may also buffer against negative employment outcomes for mothers.
Changes in Parents' Domestic Labor During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Initial evidence suggests that the pandemic has both exacerbated and reduced gender inequality in domestic labor. See details in our research briefs:
- Council on Contemporary Families brief
- Expanded brief on SocArXiv
Media coverage of this project can be found at:
A Gendered Pandemic: Childcare, Homeschooling, and Parents' Employment During COVID-19
We also find the loss of non-parental childcare and homeschooling requirements have increased the risk of unemployment and reduced work hours among mothers. However, father involvement in childcare before the pandemic may also buffer against negative employment outcomes for mothers.
- This study was published in Gender, Work & Organization, and the preprint for the manuscript can also be accessed on SocArXiv.
Parental Leave Policies
I am working on a project that focuses on assessing what types of parental leave policies lead to more favorable views of parental leave-taking. In order for parental leave policies to be effective and beneficial, there needs to be good policies in place but the broader culture also needs to be accepting and supportive of individuals who take leave. This project uses an experimental design to assess how various aspects of parental leave policies may affect cultural perceptions of leave-taking. Identifying what types of policies lead to more favorable views of those who take leave can help policymakers to design parental leave policies that will facilitate both greater utilization and cultural acceptance of leave-taking. This is a collaborative project with Trenton D. Mize (Purdue University) and Gayle Kaufman (Davidson College).
Workplace Flexibility and Parenting
This project uses data from the American Time Use Survey to consider whether working from home is associated with fathers' time spent in housework and childcare. We find evidence that fathers who work from home spend more time in childcare. We also find evidence that working from home is associated with greater time spent in housework for fathers in dual-earner families. This is a collaborative project with Daniel L. Carlson (University of Utah) and Joanna R. Pepin (University at Buffalo, SUNY). A preprint of this study can be found on SocArXiv.