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Channels of labour supply responses of lone parents to changed work incentives

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  • Xiaodong Gong
  • Robert Breunig

Abstract

In this article, we investigate the response of female lone parents to two reforms to the welfare system in Australia. Using childless single women as a control group, we find the first set of reforms increased hours worked substantially through job changes. The second set had much more modest effects on hours, which included a decrease in hours worked for those with children younger than six, but did effect an increase in participation. Our results highlight the heterogeneity of response of lone parents to welfare interventions and provide support for the importance of accounting for fixed costs and for within-job rigidities.

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  • Xiaodong Gong & Robert Breunig, 2014. "Channels of labour supply responses of lone parents to changed work incentives," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(4), pages 916-939.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxecpp:v:66:y:2014:i:4:p:916-939.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oep/gpu022
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael C. Knaus & Steffen Otterbach, 2019. "Work Hour Mismatch And Job Mobility: Adjustment Channels And Resolution Rates," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 57(1), pages 227-242, January.
    2. Li, Liming & Avendano, Mauricio, 2023. "Lone parents' employment policy and adolescents’ socioemotional development: Quasi-experimental evidence from a UK reform," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    3. Suziedelyte, Agne & Zhu, Anna, 2021. "The intergenerational impact of reduced generosity in the social safety net," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 1-24.
    4. Barbara Broadway & Anna Zhu, 2023. "Spatial heterogeneity in welfare reform success," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2023n13, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    5. Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Lihini De Silva, 2021. "Participation, Unemployment, and Wages," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 54(4), pages 482-493, December.
    6. Ruud Gerards & Riccardo Welters, 2020. "Liquidity Constraints, Unemployed Job Search and Labour Market Outcomes," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(3), pages 625-646, June.
    7. Alameddine, Mohamad & Otterbach, Steffen & Rafii, Bayan & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2018. "Work hour constraints in the German nursing workforce: A quarter of a century in review," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(10), pages 1101-1108.
    8. Paul Redmond & Seamus McGuinness & Claire Keane, 2023. "The impact of one-parent family payment reforms on the labour market outcomes of lone parents," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 75(2), pages 346-370.
    9. Hayley Fisher & Anna Zhu, 2019. "The Effect of Changing Financial Incentives on Repartnering," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(623), pages 2833-2866.
    10. Belinda Hewitt, 2021. "The Dynamics of Family Formation and Dissolution," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 54(4), pages 506-517, December.
    11. Gerards, Ruud & Welters, Riccardo, 2022. "Job search in the presence of a stressor: Does financial hardship change the effectiveness of job search?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    12. Avram, Silvia & Brewer, Mike & Salvatori, Andrea, 2018. "Can't work or won't work: Quasi-experimental evidence on work search requirements for single parents," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 63-85.
    13. Barbara Broadway & Tessa LoRiggio & Chris Ryan & Anna Zhu, 2022. "Literature review on the impact of welfare policy design on children and youth," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 809-840, September.
    14. Marike Knoef & Jan C. van Ours, 2016. "How to stimulate single mothers on welfare to find a job: evidence from a policy experiment," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 1025-1061, October.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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