PARENTHOOD, COVID-19, AND WORK OUTCOMES IN THE DOD
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Authors
Kwan, Yuk W.
Subjects
COVID-19
pandemics
work
performance
remote work
gender
pandemics
work
performance
remote work
gender
Advisors
Heissel, Jennifer A.
Massenkoff, Maxim
Date of Issue
2022-03
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States around March 2020, it changed the landscape of the work environment, and there was a sudden shift from in-person office work to a substantial portion of the population conducting their jobs remotely. My study evaluates how these changes affected the Marine Corps’ critical resource—their personnel. By combining Marine Corps demographic data with K-12 public school closures data across the United States at the county level, I used four separate performance metrics to estimate the effects that school closures had on productivity among Marines.
When the Marine Corps allowed parents the time to take care of their children, I found that it had a positive relationship between remote work and performance when looking at proficiency scores. My study also concluded that the population that suffered from school closures when compared to their counterparts were female Marines with children, when examining the impact on Combat Fitness Test scores. I recommend that the Marine Corps continue allowing Marines with children the flexibility to maintain a healthy work-life balance and find ways to lessen the burden when unforeseen childcare requirements arise. My analysis demonstrates that policies that provide more freedom for Marines to maintain a healthy work-life balance do not negatively affect a Marine’s performance. Creating new policies to continue the era of remote work in the Marine Corps can benefit the productivity of Marines.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Manpower Systems Analysis Theses
Department
Department of Defense Management (DDM)
Organization
Department of Defense Management (DDM)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.