IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/uwp/jhriss/v59y2024i4p1011-1051.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Who Benefits from Cash†for†Care? Effects of a Home Care Subsidy on Maternal Employment, Childcare Choices, and Children’s Development

Author

Listed:
  • Matthias Collischon
  • Daniel Kuehnle
  • Michael Oberfichtner

Abstract

We provide comprehensive evidence on Germany’s home care subsidy for one†and two†year†old children. In West Germany, take†up was 60 percent, and the subsidy reduced mothers’ probability to work within three years after childbirth by 1.4 percentage points and increased exclusive parental care by 6.5 percentage points. The subsidy improved children’s development at age six, with the exception of children who do not speak German at home. In East Germany, 30 percent of families used the subsidy, neither affecting maternal employment nor exclusive parental care. As an income transfer, the subsidy did not benefit families with the least economic resources most.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthias Collischon & Daniel Kuehnle & Michael Oberfichtner, 2024. "Who Benefits from Cash†for†Care? Effects of a Home Care Subsidy on Maternal Employment, Childcare Choices, and Children’s Development," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 59(4), pages 1011-1051.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:59:y:2024:i:4:p:1011-1051
    Note: DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0720-11051R1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://jhr.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/59/4/1011
    Download Restriction: A subscription is required to access pdf files. Pay per article is available.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Katrine V. L�ken & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2014. "Care or Cash? The Effect of Child Care Subsidies on Student Performance," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(5), pages 824-837, December.
    2. Elizabeth Cascio, 2015. "The promises and pitfalls of universal early education," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 116-116, January.
    3. Thomas Cornelissen & Christian Dustmann & Anna Raute & Uta Schönberg, 2018. "Who Benefits from Universal Child Care? Estimating Marginal Returns to Early Child Care Attendance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(6), pages 2356-2409.
    4. Huebener, Mathias & Kuehnle, Daniel & Spiess, C. Katharina, 2019. "Parental leave policies and socio-economic gaps in child development: Evidence from a substantial benefit reform using administrative data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Kosonen Tuomas, 2014. "To Work or Not to Work? The Effect of Childcare Subsidies on the Labour Supply of Parents," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 14(3), pages 817-848, July.
    6. repec:iza:izawol:journl:y:2015:p:116 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Collischon, Matthias & Kühnle, Daniel & Oberfichtner, Michael, 2020. "Cash-For-Care, or Caring for Cash? The Effects of a Home Care Subsidy on Maternal Employment, Childcare Choices, and Children's Development," IZA Discussion Papers 13271, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Gruber, Jonathan & Huttunen, Kristiina & Kosonen, Tuomas, 2022. "Paying Moms to Stay Home: Short and Long Run Effects on Parents and Children," Working Papers 151, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Pierre Lefebvre & Claude Felteau, 2023. "Can universal preschool education intensities counterbalance parental socioeconomic gradients? Repeated international evidence from Fourth graders skills achievement," Working Papers 23-01, Research Group on Human Capital, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management.
    4. Henning Hermes & Philipp Lergetporer & Frauke Peter & Simon Wiederhold, 2021. "Application Barriers and the Socioeconomic Gap in Child Care Enrollment," CESifo Working Paper Series 9282, CESifo.
    5. Cuong Viet Nguyen, 2022. "The effect of preschool attendance on Children's health: Evidence from a lower middle‐income country," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(8), pages 1558-1589, August.
    6. Hermes, Henning & Lergetporer, Philipp & Peter, Frauke & Wiederhold, Simon, 2021. "Behavioral Barriers and the Socioeconomic Gap in Child Care Enrollment," IZA Discussion Papers 14698, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. van Huizen, Thomas & Plantenga, Janneke, 2018. "Do children benefit from universal early childhood education and care? A meta-analysis of evidence from natural experiments," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 206-222.
    8. Cheti Nicoletti & Kjell G. Salvanes & Emma Tominey, 2023. "Mothers Working during Preschool Years and Child Skills: Does Income Compensate?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(2), pages 389-429.
    9. Wang, Lei & Qian, Yiwei & Warrinnier, Nele & Attanasio, Orazio & Rozelle, Scott & Sylvia, Sean, 2023. "Parental investment, school choice, and the persistent benefits of an early childhood intervention," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    10. Daniel Kuehnle & Michael Oberfichtner, 2020. "Does Starting Universal Childcare Earlier Influence Children’s Skill Development?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(1), pages 61-98, February.
    11. Dahl, Gordon & Loken, Katrine V., 2024. "Families, public policies, and the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics,, Elsevier.
    12. Gordon Dahl & Katrine Loken, 2024. "Families, Public Policies, and the Labor Market," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 2423, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin).
    13. Busse, Anna & Gathmann, Christina, 2018. "Free Daycare and its Effects on Children and their Families," IZA Discussion Papers 11269, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Houmark, Mikkel Aagaard & Jørgensen, Cecilie Marie Løchte & Kristiansen, Ida Lykke & Gensowski, Miriam, 2024. "Effects of extending paid parental leave on children’s socio-emotional skills and well-being in adolescence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    15. Nabanita Datta Gupta & Jonas Jessen & C. Katharina Spiess, 2023. "Maternal Life Satisfaction and Child Development from Toddlerhood to Adolescence," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1189, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    16. Mara Barschkett, 2022. "Age-specific Effects of Early Daycare on Children's Health," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2028, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    17. Aalto, Aino-Maija & Mörk, Eva & Sjögren, Anna & Svaleryd, Helena, 2019. "Does childcare improve the health of children with unemployed parents? Evidence from Swedish childcare access reform," Working Paper Series 2019:1, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    18. Jens Dietrichson & Ida Lykke Kristiansen & Bjørn A. Viinholt, 2020. "Universal Preschool Programs And Long‐Term Child Outcomes: A Systematic Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(5), pages 1007-1043, December.
    19. Jorge Rodriguez, 2017. "Understanding the Effects of Income and Child Care Subsidies on Children's Academic Achievement," 2017 Papers pro1077, Job Market Papers.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:59:y:2024:i:4:p:1011-1051. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://jhr.uwpress.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.