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Single Mothers Working at Night: Standard Work, Child Care Subsidies, and Implications for Welfare Reform

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  • Erdal Tekin

Abstract

Using a data set from the post welfare reform environment (the 1999 National Survey of America's Families), this paper investigates the impact of child care subsidies on the standard work (i.e., work performed during the traditional work hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. through Monday and Friday) decision of single mothers and tests whether this impact differs between welfare recipients and nonrecipients. The econometric strategy accounts for sample selection into the labor force and the potential endogeneity of child care subsidy receipt and welfare participation. Results suggest that child care subsidies are associated with a 6 percentage point increase in the probability of single mothers working at standard jobs. When the impact of subsidies is allowed to differ between welfare recipients and non-recipients, results indicate that welfare recipients are 14 percentage points more likely to work at standard jobs than others when they are offered a child care subsidy. Among non-recipients, child care subsidies increase standard work probability by only 1 percentage point. These results underscore the importance of child care subsidies helping low-income parents, especially welfare recipients, find jobs with conventional or standard schedules and lend support to the current practice of states' giving priority to welfare recipients for child care subsidies. Results are found to be robust to numerous specification checks.

Suggested Citation

  • Erdal Tekin, 2004. "Single Mothers Working at Night: Standard Work, Child Care Subsidies, and Implications for Welfare Reform," NBER Working Papers 10274, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10274
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Chris Herbst, 2010. "The labor supply effects of child care costs and wages in the presence of subsidies and the earned income tax credit," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 199-230, June.
    2. Mandler, Martin, 2009. "In search of robust monetary policy rules - Should the Fed look at money growth or stock market performance?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 345-361, June.
    3. Hélène Périvier, 2008. "L'impact de la Maternité sur l'Activité des Femmes aux Etats-Unis," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 51(2/3), pages 221-242.
    4. Hélène Périvier, 2008. "L’impact de la maternité sur l’activité des femmes aux Etats-Unis," Post-Print hal-03461894, HAL.
    5. Herbst, Chris M. & Tekin, Erdal, 2012. "The geographic accessibility of child care subsidies and evidence on the impact of subsidy receipt on childhood obesity," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 37-52.
    6. Robert J. Lemke & Robert Witt & Ann Dryden White, 2007. "The Transition from Welfare to Work," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 33(3), pages 359-373, Summer.
    7. Herbst, Chris M. & Tekin, Erdal, 2010. "Child care subsidies and child development," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 618-638, August.
    8. Hélène Périvier, 2008. "L’impact de la maternité sur l’activité des femmes aux Etats-Unis," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/9882, Sciences Po.
    9. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/9882 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Hélène Périvier, 2008. "L’impact de la maternité sur l’activité des femmes aux Etats-Unis," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03461894, HAL.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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