Female Labour Supply, Human Capital and Welfare Reform

Arbeitspapier

We consider the impact of tax credits and income support programs on female education choice, employment, hours and human capital accumulation over the life-cycle. We analyze both the short run incentive effects and the longer run implications of such programs. By allowing for risk aversion and savings, we quantify the insurance value of alternative programs. We find important incentive effects on education choice and labor supply, with single mothers having the most elastic labor supply. Returns to labor market experience are found to be substantial but only for full-time employment, and especially for women with more than basic formal education. For those with lower education the welfare programs are shown to have substantial insurance value. Based on the model, marginal increases to tax credits are preferred to equally costly increases in income support and to tax cuts, except by those in the highest education group.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 7375

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Time Allocation and Labor Supply ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Household
• Subject: labour supply ; human capital ; welfare reform

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Richard Blundell W. ; Dias, Monica Costa ; Meghir, Costas ; Shaw, Jonathan
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2013

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/80559
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:46 AM CET