Labor force participation (LFP) among both men and women is still lower than it was in February, prior to pandemic, but men's recovery is faster than women's and the gender gap is growing. ( https://www.dallasfed.org/research/economics/2020/1110, HT @econjared)

A thread
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One obvious contributor: child care demands, and the greater additional burden they put on women, on average, even in two-earner households.

From Feb-Sept, the paid LFP rate of moms with kids under age 13 declined by 3.5 percentage points. For dads, 2.0 percentage points.

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But child care is not whole story.

Prime working age women without young kids had a greater decline in paid LFP than men with kids: 2.7 percentage points vs. 2.0 percentage points, off a lower baseline LFP rate.

Graph from @econjared, data Dallas Fed (link in 1st tweet).

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The growing gender gap in paid LFP is also a story of gender segregation across occupations, which has left women - even those w/out kids - more vulnerable to pandemic-related job loss than men.

Think personal service and brick-and-mortar retail jobs vs. construction jobs.

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It's also a story of racial inequality in resources to pay for child care when schools are closed, and of racial segregation across occupations.

Black moms had a 6.4pp decline in paid LFP, Black dads a 4.0pp decline -- larger than for White and Hispanic moms and dads.
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Black and Hispanic families are less likely to have the wealth or income to buy private child care or educ for their kids. And, even though Black women are overrepresented (relative to share of LF) in public sector, also overrepresented in service sector occupations.
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Although support for working parents is necessary to reinvigorate economy, it's not enough to keep this pandemic from exacerbating gender and racial economic inequalities.

Also need targeted support for workers in esp hard-hit occs, and to address racial wealth gaps.

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