Tots and Teens: How Does Child’s Age Influence Maternal Labor Supply and Child Care Response to the Earned Income Tax Credit?

2020/08/26 by Katherine Michelmore, Natasha Pilkauskas · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #Early Childhood Education and Development #Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics #Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare

paper · doi:10.1086/711383

openalex publication_date 2020/08/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

Building on earlier work that shows that the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has a substantial positive effect on maternal labor supply, we show that labor supply effects are concentrated among mothers with children under age 3, with only moderate effects of the EITC on the labor supply of mothers with teenagers. These increases in labor supply are coupled with large increases in the use and cost of child care among mothers with children under age 3. Results highlight the importance of considering heterogeneous treatment effects of policy and have implications for child care policy and other family policy.

Citations

• HOW MARGINAL TAX RATES AFFECT FAMILIES AT VARIOUS LEVELS OF POVERTY
• Effective Policy for Reducing Poverty and Inequality?
• The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit

Cited by

• Mothers’ work schedules and children’s participation in center-based early care and education: The role of publicly funded early care and education programs
• The Effects of Child Care Subsidies on Paid Child Care Participation and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the Child and Dependent Care Credit

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• Care Labor and Family Income Inequality: How Childcare Costs Exacerbate Inequality among U.S. Families
• Spending Response to the Expanded Child Tax Credit: An Analysis Using United States Consumer Expenditure Survey Data