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Home work: Exploring the labor market effects of subsidizing domestic services

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  • Leduc, Elisabeth
  • Tojerow, Ilan

Abstract

This paper analyzes subsidies for the domestic services sector, an increasingly popular policy to create employment opportunities for low-skilled workers. Using Belgian administrative data, a differences-in-differences approach, and a shift-share instrumental variable, we estimate the local effects of the policy in targeted industries as well as overall effects on the labor market. We find that domestic service subsidies can increase female employment in the subsidized industries as well as the overall employment rate. This increase in employment is primarily driven by an increase in (formal) labor market participation and, to a lesser extent, a reduction in the rate of participation in unemployment insurance and in other social welfare programs. We also find that these subsidies can lead to an increase in the rate of work incapacity, likely due to the fact they broaden the population that can access the social safety net.

Suggested Citation

  • Leduc, Elisabeth & Tojerow, Ilan, 2024. "Home work: Exploring the labor market effects of subsidizing domestic services," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:90:y:2024:i:c:s0927537124000903
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102595
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    Cited by:

    1. Natalia Bermúdez-Barrezueta & Sam Desiere & Giulia Tarullo, 2025. "Hiring subsidies and temporary work agencies," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 25/1103, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    2. Bermúdez-Barrezueta, Natalia & Desiere, Sam & Tarullo, Giulia, 2025. "Hiring Subsidies and Temporary Work Agencies," IZA Discussion Papers 17616, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Natalia Bermúdez-Barrezueta & Sam Desiere & Giulia Tarullo, 2025. "Hiring subsidies and temporary work agencies," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2025003, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage Subsidies; Low-Skilled Workers; Unemployment; Domestic Services; Personal and Household Services; Female Employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

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