Economic incentives, childcare and gender identity norms

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

No 13769, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

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.

Keywords: Home production; Taxes; Gender identity; Gender gaps (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 H24 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (28)

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Working Paper: Economic Incentives, Childcare and Gender Identity Norms (2021)
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