Cited by 85COVID-19 Pandemic ImpactsEducation during COVID-19 pandemicEconomic Growth and Productivity

The Long-Term Distributional and Welfare Effects of Covid-19 School Closures

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Fuchs-Schündeln, Nicola, Krueger, Dirk, Ludwig, Alexander, Popova, Irina·2020·National Bureau of Economic Research

Abstract

Using a structural life-cycle model, we quantify the long-term impact of school closures during the Corona crisis on children affected at different ages and coming from households with different parental characteristics.In the model, public investment through schooling is combined with parental time and resource investments in the production of child human capital at different stages in the children's development process.We quantitatively characterize both the long-term earnings consequences on children from a Covid-19 induced loss of schooling, as well as the associated welfare losses.Due to self-productivity in the human capital production function, skill attainment at a younger stage of the life cycle raises skill attainment at later stages, and thus younger children are hurt more by the school closures than older children.We find that parental reactions reduce the negative impact of the school closures, but do not fully offset it.The negative impact of the crisis on children's welfare is especially severe for those with parents with low educational attainment and low assets.The school closures themselves are primarily responsible for the negative impact of the Covid-19 shock on the long-run welfare of the children, with the pandemic-induced income shock to parents playing a secondary role.

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  • Dynamic models of learning stress how small losses can accumulate into large disadvantages with time.

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Abbott, B., G. Gallipoli, C. Meghir, and G. L. Violante (2019). Education Policies and Intergen- erational Transfers in Equilibrium. forthcoming: Journal of Political Economy.
  2. Adams-Prassl, A., T. Boneva, M. Golin, and C. Rauh (2020). Inequality and the Impact of the Coronavirus Shock: Evidence from Real Time Surveys. Journal of Public Economics, forthcoming.
  3. Fitzpatrick, M. D., D. Grissmer, and S. Hastedt (2011). What a Difference a Day Can Make: Esti- mating Daily Learning Gains during Kindergarten and First Grade Using a Natural Experiment. Economics of Education Review 30 (2), 269-279.

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Authors
Fuchs-Schündeln, N., Krueger, D., Ludwig, A., & Popova, I.
Affiliations
Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
Venue
National Bureau of Economic Research
Published
2020-09
OpenAlex
W3082138958
Cited by
84
References
40
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 6
Type
report
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • National Bureau of Economic Research (publishedVersion)
  • MADOC (University of Mannheim) (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Econstor (Econstor) (submittedVersion)
  • Publication Server of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (Goethe University Frankfurt) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
  • H2020 European Research Council (815378)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts
  • Social Sciences › Education › Education during COVID-19 pandemic
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economic Growth and Productivity
Keywords
COVID-19 school closures, long-run earnings, child human capital, welfare effects, parental time investment, parental education, household assets, life-cycle model, skill acquisition, distributional effects

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