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Economic incentives, childcare and gender identity norms

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  • Ichino, Andrea
  • Olsson, Martin
  • Petrongolo, Barbara
  • Thoursie, Peter Skogman

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of gender identity norms in shaping men's and women's time allocation, based on observed behavior following a change in the market penalty for adopting prescriptive norms. To perform this test, we study the reallocation of childcare across parents, following changes in their relative take-home pay. Exploiting variation from Swedish tax reforms, we estimate the elasticity of substitution in parental childcare for natives and immigrants from a variety of countries, characterized by varying gender norms. We find that couples originating from countries with relatively conservative norms are more likely to reallocate childcare across spouses following a reduction in the husband's tax rate, and less likely to reallocate childcare following a reduction in the wife's tax rate, thereby reinforcing a traditional allocation of childcare across parents.

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  • Ichino, Andrea & Olsson, Martin & Petrongolo, Barbara & Thoursie, Peter Skogman, 2019. "Economic incentives, childcare and gender identity norms," CEPR Discussion Papers 13769, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13769
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    3. Michael Christl & Silvia Poli, 2021. "Trapped in inactivity? Social assistance and labour supply in Austria," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 661-696, August.
    4. Helene Turon, 2022. "The Labour Supply of Mothers," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 22/769, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    5. Estefanía Galván, 2022. "Gender Identity and Quality of Employment," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(354), pages 409-436, April.
    6. Gordon B Dahl & Christina Felfe & Paul Frijters & Helmut Rainer, 2022. "Caught between Cultures: Unintended Consequences of Improving Opportunity for Immigrant Girls," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(5), pages 2491-2528.
    7. Sevrin Waights, 2022. "Parental Leave Benefits and Child Penalties," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2016, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    8. Petrongolo, Barbara & Ronchi, Maddalena, 2020. "Gender gaps and the structure of local labor markets," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    9. Lindahl, Erica & Rosenqvist, Olof & Selin, Håkan, 2023. "Gender-targeted transfers by default? - Evidence from a child allowance reform in Sweden," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    10. Saudi‐Yulieth Enciso‐Alfaro & Salma Marhroub & Pedro‐José Martínez‐Córdoba & Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez, 2024. "The effect of COVID‐19 on employment: A bibliometric review of a she‐cession," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3444-3467, July.
    11. Hensvik, Lena & Azmat, Ghazala, 2020. "Workplace Presenteeism, Job Substitutability and Gender Inequality," CEPR Discussion Papers 14982, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Estefanía Galván & Cecilia García-Peñalosa, 2021. "Interactions amongst gender norms: Evidence from US couples," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 21-15, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    13. Flèche, Sarah & Lepinteur, Anthony & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2020. "Gender norms, fairness and relative working hours within households," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    14. Petrongolo, Barbara & Ronchi, Maddalena, 2020. "A survey of gender gaps through the lens of the industry structure and local labor markets," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108438, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    17. Cristian Alonso & Mariya Brussevich & Ms. Era Dabla-Norris & Yuko Kinoshita & Ms. Kalpana Kochhar, 2019. "Reducing and Redistributing Unpaid Work: Stronger Policies to Support Gender Equality," IMF Working Papers 2019/225, International Monetary Fund.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Home production; Taxes; Gender identity; Gender gaps;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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