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Balancing family and work: The effect of cash benefits for working mothers

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  • Sánchez-Mangas, Rocio
  • Sánchez-Marcos, Virginia

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to measure the potential effect of a family policy introduced in Spain in 2003 that provides working mothers with a monthly cash benefit of 100 euros per child aged under 3Â years. We explore the effect of the policy on eligible women's labour market participation. In the tradition of the policy evaluation literature we use a difference-in-differences-in-differences (DDD) estimation approach. Our results support a small but significant positive effect of the policy. We find that since the implementation of the policy the labour market participation rate for mothers of children aged under 3 has risen by 3 percentage points compared to the rate for non-policy-eligible females. This represents 5% of their average labour market participation in 2002, the year before the policy was implemented. This overall policy effect is dominated by the effect of the policy among high school educated females.

Suggested Citation

  • Sánchez-Mangas, Rocio & Sánchez-Marcos, Virginia, 2008. "Balancing family and work: The effect of cash benefits for working mothers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 1127-1142, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:15:y:2008:i:6:p:1127-1142
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    Cited by:

    1. Asai, Yukiko, 2015. "Parental leave reforms and the employment of new mothers: Quasi-experimental evidence from Japan," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 72-83.
    2. Corbella i Domenech, Teresa & Domingo Vernis, Misericòrdia, 2010. "Gender gap index in Spain by regions," Working Papers 2072/148478, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    3. Azmat, Ghazala & González, Libertad, 2010. "Targeting fertility and female participation through the income tax," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 487-502, June.
    4. Fernández-Kranz, Daniel & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2011. "The part-time pay penalty in a segmented labor market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 591-606, October.
    5. Annette Bergemann & Regina T. Riphahn, 2023. "Maternal employment effects of paid parental leave," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 139-178, January.
    6. World Bank, 2015. "Promoting Labor Market Participation and Social Inclusion in Europe and Central Asia's Poorest Countries," World Bank Publications - Reports 22501, The World Bank Group.
    7. Fernández-Kranz, Daniel & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2013. "Can Parents' Right to Work Part-Time Hurt Childbearing-Aged Women? A Natural Experiment with Administrative Data," IZA Discussion Papers 7509, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Ross Guest & Nick Parr, 2013. "Family policy and couples’ labour supply: an empirical assessment," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(4), pages 1631-1660, October.
    9. Angela Cipollone & Carlo D'Ippoliti, 2009. "Women's Employment: Beyond Individual Characteristics vs. Contextual Factors Explanations," Working Papers CELEG 0901, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, LUISS Guido Carli.
    10. Christofides, Louis N. & Polycarpou, Alexandros & Vrachimis, Konstantinos, 2013. "Gender wage gaps, ‘sticky floors’ and ‘glass ceilings’ in Europe," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 86-102.
    11. repec:ilo:ilowps:487376 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Cipollone, Angela & Patacchini, Eleonora & Vallanti, Giovanna, 2012. "Women’s Labour Market Performance in Europe: Trends and Shaping Factors," CEPS Papers 7329, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    13. Angela Cipollone & Eleonora Patacchini & Giovanna Vallanti, 2013. "Women Labor Market Performance In Europe:Novel Evidence On Trends And Shaping Factors," Working Papers LuissLab 13107, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, LUISS Guido Carli.
    14. Regmi, Krishna & Wang, Le, 2022. "Maternity Leave," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1184, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Nollenberger, Natalia & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2011. "Child Care, Maternal Employment and Persistence: A Natural Experiment from Spain," IZA Discussion Papers 5888, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    J13 J18 C51 Female participation Child care benefit Policy evaluation Difference-in-differences-in-differences estimation;

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation

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