Working Paper

Long-Run Effects of Incentivizing Work After Childbirth


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% higher earnings conditional on working. We show that higher earnings are primarily explained by improved wages due to greater work experience.

Keywords: employment; children; incentives; Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC);

JEL Classification: J16; J22; J31; H20;

https://doi.org/10.24148/wp2023-27

Access Documents

File(s): File format is application/pdf https://www.frbsf.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/wp2023-27.pdf
Description: Full text - article PDF

Authors

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Part of Series: Working Paper Series

Publication Date: 2023-06-23

Number: 2023-27