The Family Peer Effect on Mothers' Labor Supply

The historical rise in female labor force participation has flattened in recent decades, but the proportion of mothers working full time has increased. We provide the first empirical evidence that the increase in mothers' working hours is amplified through the influence of family peers. For identification, we exploit partially overlapping peer groups. Using Norwegian administrative data, we find positive and statistically significant family peer effects, but only on the intensive margin of women's labor supply. These are in part driven by concerns about time allocation from early childhood and concerns about earnings from age five. (JEL J12, J16, J24, J31)

Husband’s Unemployment and Wife’s Labor Supply: The Added Worker Effect across Europe

This article investigates the responsiveness of women’s labor supply to their husband’s job loss—the so-called added worker effect. The authors contribute to the literature by taking an explicit internationally comparative perspective in analyzing the variation of the added worker effect across welfare regimes. Using longitudinal data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) survey covering 28 European countries from 2004 to 2013, they find evidence of an added worker effect, which, however, varies over both the business cycle and the different welfare regimes in Europe. The latter result might be explained, in part, by differences in the design of the unemployment benefit system across countries, which create different incentives for the labor supply of wives of unemployed men.

Taxes, Transfers, and Women’s Labor Supply in the United States

The US tax and transfer system generates revenue and provides safety net programs that move millions out of poverty. Since women are more likely to live in poverty, they are more likely to qualify for means-tested transfers. The structure of taxation in the United States often penalizes secondary earners, who are usually women. These programs alter work incentives and consequently may affect labor supply decisions. In this chapter, we examine the empirical evidence on the effects of taxes and transfers on the labor supply of women in the United States. We show that much has changed since 1990, with the biggest shift being a change from cash transfers via welfare to refundable tax credits to workers. Overall, the evidence we review shows women have higher labor force participation and are less responsive to changes in after-tax wages than they were before 1990, but the labor supply effects vary substantially by program considered.