Working from Home and Parental Childcare Division: Evidence from Two Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic

We investigate the dynamics of gendered parental childcare division across the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic up until spring 2022. We employ unique data from a German (bi)monthly survey based on a random sample from administrative data (IAB-HOPP) and find dynamics toward a more equal division. Up to April 2021, drivers are couples with already care-involved fathers, while later on, couples with a strongly traditional division drive these changes. The latter shift emerges in parental constellations where fathers unilaterally gain working-from-home possibilities. Our results give moderate support for optimism but also point to an ambiguous role of working from home.