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The Effects of Children’s Health on Mothers’ Employment

Author

Listed:
  • Hua Zan

    (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)

  • Robert L. Scharff

    (The Ohio State University)

Abstract

When children have health problems, mothers face a tradeoff between the decision to work to satisfy increased expenses and the decision to stay home to fulfill enlarged caregiving needs, especially for children with chronic conditions. This research used an instrumental variables approach to investigate the labor market consequences of mothers due to burden to care children with health problems. We found mothers’ employment probability increased by 0.9% for every $100 of increased out-of-pocket medical spending, while employment probability fell by 1.0% for every half day of school/day care a sick child missed. By correcting for endogeneity we addressed a potential empirical bias. Analyses by subgroups showed that Hispanic mothers were less likely to work in the labor market with high caregiving burden. We also found that the effects of time burden on labor market outcomes were magnified for black mothers.

Suggested Citation

  • Hua Zan & Robert L. Scharff, 2018. "The Effects of Children’s Health on Mothers’ Employment," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 297-309, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:39:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s10834-017-9552-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-017-9552-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Christopher R. Tamborini, 2021. "Family and Health over the Past Decade: Review of Selected Studies and Areas of Future Inquiry," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 62-69, July.
    2. Amairisa Koukia & Robert M. Sauer, 2022. "Remote Work, Children’s Health and the Racial Gap in Female Wages," CHILD Working Papers Series 104 JEL Classification: C, Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic Economics (CHILD) - CCA.
    3. Kouki, Amairisa & Sauer, Robert M., 2022. "Remote Work, Children's Health and the Racial Gap in Female Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 15072, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Kouki, Amairisa, 2023. "Beyond the “Comforts” of work from home: Child health and the female wage penalty," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    5. Polavarapu, Mounika & Williamson, Alexandria A & Krause, Donnamarie & Jordan, Timothy R., 2023. "Vocational success among at-risk, low-income young adults: Are there contributing factors?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    6. Lisbeth Loft, 2022. "The importance of child characteristics: children’s health and mothers’ subsequent childbearing," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 599-616, December.
    7. Irina B. Grafova & Alan C. Monheit & Rizie Kumar, 2022. "Income Shocks and Out-of-Pocket Health Care Spending: Implications for Single-Mother Families," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 489-500, September.
    8. Chiara Mussida & Dario Sciulli, 2019. "Does the Presence of a Disabled Person in the Household Affect the Employment Probabilities of Cohabiting Women? Evidence from Italy, France and the UK," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 338-351, September.
    9. Chiara Mussida & Raffaella Patimo, 2021. "Women’s Family Care Responsibilities, Employment and Health: A Tale of Two Countries," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 489-507, September.

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