Dr. Furman is no conservative. He is currently in Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. A few years ago he was Chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic advisers. The pdf below is a tweet thread explaining some recent research on whether lack of childcare combined with school closings is preventing women from re-entering the labor force.
Jason Furman
The short answer is, “no.” The paper is Jason Furman (PIIE), Melissa Kearney (University of Maryland; Aspen Economic Strategy Group) and Wilson Powell III (Harvard Kennedy School, May 17, 2021 9:15 AM. “How much have childcare challenges slowed the US jobs market recovery?”
Here’s Jason Furman on moms in the labor force.
The employment rates of PARENTS of young children have declined by 4.5 percent as compared with 5.2 percent among people who are not parents of young children (the decline is also smaller for parents of young children when adjusting for age differences between the two groups).
If you look just at MOTHERS, three points are important:
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They are 12% of the workforce.
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Their employment declined only a little more than non-mothers.
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It is possible even that this decline is explained by age/education/industry.
Here’s the full thread:
