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MCC Daily Tribune

IR's COVID-Era College-Wide Survey Results Section IV: How the Pandemic Has Changed Students' Employment

As I mentioned in my Trib post on July 7, I would be sharing the results of IR's COVID-Era College-Wide Survey throughout July and August.  The following is Section IV of XI.

Note: Because I had a margin of error of +/-3%, the following results can be generalized to the larger population of people who were sent the survey. 

 

Respondents were asked if they had a paid job(s) any time from September 2019 to March 2020.  Three-quarters (77%) indicated that they had.  Of those, half said they are still working but another half said they have lost their job either temporarily or permanently. 

I was also interested in assessing whether women’s – and especially mothers’ -- employment has been affected by the pandemic. This is because national data shows that their work has been disproportionately affected for reasons such as:

  • Women are more likely than men to work in lower paying jobs
  • Mothers, even working mothers, are generally children’s primary caregivers
  • Child care was unaffordable prior to the pandemic and largely unavailable during the pandemic (Bateman and Ross, 2020). 

My hypothesis was supported by the survey data.  Our female students’ -- and in particular our Single Mom Learners’-- jobs were disproportionately affected by the pandemic.  Approximately 54% of our Single Mom Learners have lost their job(s) temporarily or permanently or now earn less, as compared to 40% of males and 44% of all respondents who weren't Non-Single Mom Learners.

Echoing the national data, COVID also disproportionately disrupted the employment of MCC Students of Color, low-income students, and Student-Parents:

  • More than twice as many Students of Color than White students say they now earn less at their jobs (13% vs. 5%).
  • More Pell-eligible students than non-Pell-eligible students have permanently lost their job(s) (25% vs. 15% of non-Pell-eligible students). 
  • Nearly twice as many Student-Parents (than Non-Parents say they now earn less at their jobs (11% vs. 6%).

 

Reference

Bateman, N. & Ross, M. (2020, October). Why has COVID-19 been especially harmful for working women?, Brookings   Institution.  https://www.brookings.edu/essay/why-has-covid-19-been-especially-harmful-for-working-women/

Mary Ann DeMario
Research
07/21/2021