Drivers of Working Hours and Household Income Dynamics During the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Case of the Netherlands

59 Pages Posted: 29 May 2021 Last revised: 19 May 2022

See all articles by Christian Zimpelmann

Christian Zimpelmann

IZA

Hans-Martin von Gaudecker

University of Bonn - Economic Science Area; Netspar; Max Planck Society for the Advancement of the Sciences - Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA)

Radost Holler

Bonn Graduate School of Economics

Lena Janys

University of Mannheim

Bettina Siflinger

University of Mannheim - Department of Economics

Abstract

Using customized panel data spanning the entire year of 2020, we analyze the dynamics of working hours and household income across different stages of the CoVid-19 pandemic. Similar to many other countries, during this period the Netherlands experienced a quick spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, adopted a set of fairly strict social distancing measures, gradually reopened, and imposed another lockdown to contain the second wave. We show that socio-economic status is strongly related to changes in working hours, especially when strict economic restrictions are in place. In contrast, household income is equally unaffected for all socio-economic groups. Examining the drivers of these observations, we find that pandemic-specific job characteristics (the ability to work from home and essential worker status) explain most of the socio-economic gradient in total working hours. Furthermore, household income is largely decoupled from shocks to working hours for employees. We provide suggestive evidence that large-scale labor hoarding schemes have helped insure employees against demand shocks to their employees.

Keywords: inequality, labor market, working from home, coronavirus, mitigation policies, essential workers, COVID-19

JEL Classification: D31, J21, J22, J24, J33

Suggested Citation

Zimpelmann, Christian and von Gaudecker, Hans-Martin and Holler, Radost and Janys, Lena and Siflinger, Bettina, Drivers of Working Hours and Household Income Dynamics During the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Case of the Netherlands. IZA Discussion Paper No. 14382, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3855946

Hans-Martin Von Gaudecker

University of Bonn - Economic Science Area ( email )

Adenauerallee 24-42
D-53113 Bonn
Germany

Netspar ( email )

P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands

Max Planck Society for the Advancement of the Sciences - Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) ( email )

Amalienstrasse 33
Munich, 80799
Germany

Radost Holler

Bonn Graduate School of Economics

Lena Janys

University of Mannheim

Universitaetsbibliothek Mannheim
Zeitschriftenabteilung
Mannheim, 68131
Germany

Bettina Siflinger

University of Mannheim - Department of Economics ( email )

D-68131 Mannheim
Germany

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