Women working full-time have significantly reduced their employment due to school closures caused by the coronavirus

Infographic of September 1, 2026

The infographic from the DIW Weekly Report 35/2026 shows the effects of COVID-19-related school closures on the employment of mothers with children exclusively in elementary school. The title reads: “Women in full-time employment have significantly reduced their working hours due to COVID-19 school closures.” On the left is a school building labeled “Elementary School.” In front of the building are symbols representing the coronavirus and barriers indicating school closures. Next to it are two bar charts below the zero line. The first bar shows an overall decline in labor force participation among women of 4.8 percentage points. The second bar shows an even sharper decline of 7.9 percentage points for married women. On the right is a scene set in a home environment: A person is sitting at a desk with a laptop and an iron, while two child figures stand nearby. Below the illustration is the key message: “Mothers with elementary school-aged children have reduced their employment. Fathers, on the other hand, have worked more.” At the bottom are the sources “SOEPv41 Infas 360 Data Catalog/Corona Data; own calculations,” the license notice “CC BY 4.0,” the branding “DIW Weekly Report 35 2026,” and the “DIW Berlin” logo. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Topics: Gender , Labor and employment

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