This paper studies employment outcomes during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic across eight countries exhibiting different case levels and policy responses: the United States, Australia, France, Denmark, Italy, South Korea, Spain, and Sweden. While the proportion of people not-at-work increased in all countries, safety net policies seem to influence whether people remained employed-but-absent from work as opposed to becoming unemployed or leaving the labor force. We find large employment decreases among young workers and those who only have a high school degree, and increased labor market disparities in countries with the largest declines in employment. A variety of evidence suggests labor demand was a larger driver of employment declines than labor supply and that stringent social distancing policies reduce employment even in the absence of high case numbers. Job characteristics - the importance of face-to-face interactions and the ability to work remotely - were closely related to changes in labor market outcomes.

This paper studies employment outcomes during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic across eight countries exhibiting different case levels and policy responses: the United States, Australia, France, Denmark, Italy, South Korea, Spain, and Sweden. While the proportion of people not-at-work increased in all countries, safety net policies seem to influence whether people remained employed-but-absent from work as opposed to becoming unemployed or leaving the labor force. We find large employment decreases among young workers and those who only have a high school degree, and increased labor market disparities in countries with the largest declines in employment. A variety of evidence suggests labor demand was a larger driver of employment declines than labor supply and that stringent social distancing policies reduce employment even in the absence of high case numbers. Job characteristics - the importance of face-to-face interactions and the ability to work remotely - were closely related to changes in labor market outcomes.

This archive contains replication data and code for "TAre Charitable Donations and Volunteering Substitutes or Complements? New Evidence from Recent Tax Changes", published in the National Tax Journal.