The Impact of Daycare Closures Owing to COVID-19 on Parental Stress: The Case of Japan

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this study is to quantify the effect of the closure of daycare facilities during the early stage of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the stress of parents with preschool children. Using household panel data collected before and after the pandemic, we estimated difference-in-differences models and their extensions. Our empirical results show that the closure of daycare facilities significantly worsened parental stress as measured by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. The negative effects of daycare closures on parental stress levels were greater for mothers, non-regular workers, and households with relatively older children. In contrast, on parents in metropolitan areas or those with younger children, no significant effects of daycare closures were observed. We discuss the two conflicting pathways—the increased childcare burden and the decreased risk of children’s infection—through which daycare closures affected parental distress, interpret the heterogeneous effects accordingly, and provide policy implications. Our results suggest that a risk-based, local closure policy could have been effective in reducing parental stress during the emergency.