Unconditional cash transfers and maternal employment: Evidence from the Baby’s First Years study

Maria Sauval, Greg J. Duncan, Lisa A. Gennetian, Katherine A. Magnuson, Nathan A. Fox, Kimberly G. Noble and Hirokazu Yoshikawa

Journal of Public Economics, 2024, vol. 236, issue C

Abstract: How the labor force participation of mothers of young children responds to unconditioned cash support remains an open question in policy debates. Using data from Baby’s First Years, a large-scale randomized controlled study, we generate new estimates of the impact of an unconditional monthly cash transfer on maternal employment behavior through a child’s first four years of life. We find no overall statistically detectable differences in whether mothers participated in the paid workforce or on total household earnings. Receipt of the cash transfer appears to have reduced hours of maternal work during the height of the pandemic in 2020–21.

Keywords: Cash transfers; Experiment; Maternal employment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H31 I30 J13 J18 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:236:y:2024:i:c:s0047272724000951

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2024.105159

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