Long-Run Effects of Incentivizing Work after Childbirth
American Economic Review · 2024 · Volume 114 · Issue 6
Abstract
This paper identifies the impact of increasing post-childbirth work incentives on mothers' long-run careers. We exploit variation in work incentives across mothers based on the timing of a first birth and eligibility for the 1993 expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Ten to nineteen years after a first birth, single mothers who were exposed to the expansion immediately after birth ("early"), rather than 3–6 years later ("late"), have 0.62 more years of work experience and 4.2 percent higher earnings conditional on working. We show that higher earnings are primarily explained by improved wages due to greater work experience.
Keywords
Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies, includes inheritance and gift taxes, Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Household, Economics of Gender, Non-labor Discrimination, Time Allocation and Labor Supply, Wage Level and Structure, Wage Differentials
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