Who is the "She" in the Pandemic "She-Cession"? Variation in COVID-19 Labor Market Outcomes by Gender and Family Status

Digital humanistic program to manage premature frailty in young breast cancer survivors with gender perspective

Premature frailty is a critical challenge for young breast cancer survivors (YBCSs), impacting their health and perpetuating gender inequality through heightened vulnerability and marginalization. While digital health shows promise in frailty screening, its effectiveness for comprehensively managing frailty remains inconclusive. This randomized controlled trial, registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2200058823), tests the "AI-TA" program's efficacy on premature frailty and quality of life in YBCSs. The intervention group received a gender- and generation-sensitive program combining artificial intelligence interactions and humanities skills. The control group received 12 weeks of online information support. Both groups improved in frailty dimensions (P < 0.05); the intervention group showed notable enhancements in psychological (P = 0.013) and social frailty (P < 0.001). Quality of life also improved more in the intervention group from T1 to T2 (β = 15.384, 95% CI:13.028-17.740, P < 0.001). Results show a gender- and generation-sensitive digital humanistic program can optimize frailty management, promoting survivorship and gender equity.

Retirement behavior of cancer survivors: role of health insurance

PURPOSE

Workers who rely on employment for health insurance may be unable to reduce work during and following treatment for a serious health condition, potentially harming their health in retirement. In this study, we examine the influence of retiree and employment-contingent insurance on the retirement and health of workers diagnosed with cancer.

METHODS

This longitudinal cohort study used 2000-2018 Health and Retirement Study data to examine changes in employment, weekly hours worked, and health status measures following a cancer diagnosis. We selected respondents who reported a new cancer diagnosis (n = 354) and a matched, non-cancer sample (n = 1770), restricting both samples to those employed and younger than age 63.

RESULTS

Following a cancer diagnosis, women with retiree health insurance were 18.6 percentage points less likely to work (95% CI: - 36.3 to - 1.0; p < 0.05) relative to women with employer health insurance, but no retiree insurance. Employed women with cancer but without employment-contingent health insurance increased weekly hours worked by 34% relative to similar non-cancer controls. Men and women with a cancer diagnosis and without employment-contingent health or retiree insurance were also less likely to work (p < 0.05). Among those who stopped working, respondents with cancer and employment-contingent health insurance reported better health status than respondents without employment-contingent health insurance.

CONCLUSIONS

Cancer survivors with employer and retiree health insurance leave the workforce earlier and report better health status when they stop working than those without equivalent insurance.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS

Policies to support health insurance outside of employment may allow cancer survivors to retire earlier and may have positive health benefits.

US Parents’ Domestic Labor During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

It is important to assess the long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for gender equality, but we know little about US parents’ domestic arrangements beyond the early days of the pandemic or how simultaneous changes in employment, earnings, telework, gender ideologies, and care supports may have altered domestic arrangements. This study assesses changes in parents’ domestic labor during the first year of the pandemic using fixed-effects regression on data from a longitudinal panel of 700 different-sex partnered US parents collected at three time points: March, April, and November 2020. Parents’ divisions of housework and childcare became more equal early in the pandemic, but divisions of housework reverted toward pre-pandemic levels by Fall 2020 whereas fathers’ shares of childcare remained elevated. Changes in parents’ divisions of domestic labor were largely driven by changes in parents’ labor force conditions, but shifts in gender ideology also mattered. Decreases in fathers’ labor force participation and increases in telecommuting in April portended increases in fathers’ shares of domestic tasks. As fathers increased their time in paid work and returned to in-person work by fall, their shares of domestic labor fell. Shifts toward more traditional gender ideologies were also associated with decreases in fathers’ shares of childcare in Fall 2020. Overall, results point to remote work as a possible means for achieving greater gender equality in domestic labor among couples, but shifts toward traditional gender ideologies may suppress any gains stemming from supportive work–family policies.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: COVID Concerns and Partnered U.S. Mothers' Employment during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Shutdowns of in-person school and childcare in spring 2020 in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic were associated with substantial reductions in mothers' labor force participation (LFP). By fall 2020, in-person school and daycare were more widely available, but mothers' LFP remained as low as it was in spring. Coincidently, by fall 2020, daily COVID deaths had also began to peak. Using unique panel survey data from partnered U.S. mothers (n = 263), the authors use structural equation modeling to analyze how mothers' concerns over COVID shaped their LFP in fall 2020. Findings show that mothers' COVID concerns were associated with reduced LFP via children's time at home, perceived stress, and remote work. Concerned mothers were more likely to keep children home, but this resulted in less paid work likely vis-à-vis work-family conflicts. The findings illuminate one reason mothers' LFP failed to rebound in fall 2020 despite increased access to in-person school and daycare.