Out of school and out of work: coronavirus effects hurting job market entrants, elementary school students, expert says | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Out of school and out of work: coronavirus effects hurting job market entrants, elementary school students, expert says Out of school and out of work: coronavirus effects hurting job market entrants, elementary school students, expert says Published: April 06, 2020 Author: Colleen Sharkey Classroom With 10,000,000 Americans filing unemployment claims and the coronavirus outbreak forcing longer stay-at-home orders, college graduates have more to worry about than missing their commencement ceremonies. Younger students who rely on resources provided by their teachers and schools are suddenly out of school for several months. Where will this leave the class of 2020 as they hunt for jobs and the generations behind them? “Labor market effects will be felt acutely by new entrants, as their labor market trajectories will likely be permanently altered by entering in this downturn,” said Notre Dame Assistant Professor of Economics Chloe Gibbs. “We are already seeing the contractions affecting new offers of employment and resulting in rescinded offers, so this situation has made the job market immediately difficult for graduating high school and college seniors.” Economic research since the Great Recession has shown that, even with a college degree, new entrants to the job market earned less — even in the long run— than graduates who entered the work force under stable economic conditions. “We know from previous recessions that education has a buffering effect, that is, that those with college degrees are more protected from the negative shock, but the nature of this shock is quite different and several economists have suggested it may be more akin to a hurricane-induced economic slowdown,” Gibbs said. “In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, for example, college-educated workers experienced immediate reductions in earnings as well, so the impact may be broader and more spread across those with varying educational backgrounds.” College is still a long way away for elementary school children, but the coronavirus outbreak is affecting their potential, too. Gibbs largely focuses on how policy — including education policy — affects disadvantaged children and families and how to address achievement gaps by race, ethnicity and family income. Much of her work, including recent research on the impact of full-day kindergarten and the effects of the federally-funded Head Start preschool program, explores how time spent in school affects children’s cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. This research finds that more instructional time in the early years has important benefits for children over the short- and long-term, particularly children learning English and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. With the majority of schools in the U.S. on hiatus (some for the remainder of the school year), Gibbs fears the consequences for children with limited or no access to learning resources outside of school. “Evidence from previous pandemics indicates that the disruption to school-age children’s educational trajectories has long-lasting effects,” she said. “When kids are out of school, the differences in resources and environments they experience translate into gaps in skill development, so I worry that school closures could contribute to widening achievement gaps by family income or socioeconomic status. Efforts to implement remote learning may contribute to these gaps as children have differential access in their homes to the technology required.”   Contact: Chloe Gibbs, chloe.gibbs@nd.edu Posted In: Research Faculty and Staff Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related October 04, 2022 NIH awards $4 million grant to psychologists researching suicide prevention August 16, 2022 NSF names Center for Computer-Assisted Synthesis a Phase II Center for Chemical Innovation July 22, 2022 Six Notre Dame faculty receive NSF early career awards May 02, 2022 Edward Maginn appointed associate vice president for research May 02, 2022 Anna Haskins testifies at National Academies session on intergenerational poverty For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn