Shifting employment and perceptions of household responsibilities during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada, USA

Employment and household responsibility are critical health determinants. The COVID-19 pandemic altered the work and social landscapes in Nevada, USA through closures of workplaces and schools/childcare centers, changing patterns of employment, and household responsibilities. This study aimed to measure changes in employment status and perceived housework responsibilities among Nevada adults in December 2020, before widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines in a pandemic-affected economy. Using a cross-sectional telephone survey of 1,000 Nevada adults, this study compared respondent experiences and perceptions of employment and time spent on housework in December 2020 to pre-pandemic using multinominal logistic, proportional odds, and logistic models. 70.52% of participants experienced no employment change; roughly 24% reported being fired/laid-off, working reduced hours, or quitting. Chi-square analyses found participants of color more likely than Whites to report being fired/laid-off or working reduced hours (p-value = 0.0005), though these findings were not significant in our models. Participants in the lowest income bracket had higher odds of being fired/laid off (p-value = 0.0030), and participants aged 65+ were less likely to experience employment change (p-value