The Impact of School Closure for COVID-19 on the US Healthcare Workforce and the Net Mortality Effects

Jude Bayham; Eli P Fenichel

Twenty-nine percent of healthcare worker households have an obligation to care for a child between 3 and 12 years of age. Focusing on households without a non-working adult or sibling 13 years or older who could potentially care for children ages 3-12 (https://www.redcross.org/take-aclass/babysitting/babysitting-child-care-training/babysitting-certification), we find that 15% or slightly more than 1 in 7, healthcare worker households have child care obligations. This may be optimistic because non-working adults may not be able to provide care, e.g., they may require care themselves. On the other hand, it is possible that family members outside the household, neighbors, or friends could care for children, though no data are available in the CPS on these possibilities. We find that 7% of healthcare households are single-parent households, which is greater than all other major industry classifications.