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Long-Run Effects of Incentivizing Work after Childbirth

  • Elira Kuka
  • Na'ama Shenhav
American Economic Review
vol. 114, no. 6, June 2024
(pp. 1692-1722)
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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.

Citation

Kuka, Elira, and Na'ama Shenhav. 2024. "Long-Run Effects of Incentivizing Work after Childbirth." American Economic Review, 114 (6): 1692-1722. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20220792

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • H24 Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes
  • H31 Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Household
  • J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
  • J22 Time Allocation and Labor Supply
  • J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials