The Inequities of Unemployment: Low-Socioeconomic Status Mothers’ Experiences of Job Loss and Their Subsequent Paid and Unpaid Labor Trajectories During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The pandemic negatively affected mothers, exacerbating gendered inequalities in labor market participation, household work, and caregiving responsibilities. As mothers assumed more caregiving responsibilities in response to childcare and school closures, they also experienced the steepest declines in employment and earnings. Sociologists Priya Fielding-Singh and Elizabeth Talbert will investigate the circumstances that led low-socioeconomic status mothers to leave the labor force during the pandemic. They will conduct in-depth interviews for their study.