Can Mothers Afford to Work in Poland? : Labor Supply Incentives of Social Benefits and Childcare Costs

Bargu, Ali ; Morgandi, Matteo

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: WOMEN IN LABOR FORCE;    FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION;    SOCIAL ASSISTANCE;    FERTILITY;    CHILDCARE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8295
RP-ID  :  WPS8295

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper analyzes the incentives tolabor supply faced by families, particularly mothers, withyoung children in the context of a recently introducedfertility promotion benefit in Poland. The paper is based onan adapted version of the Organisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development's Tax-Benefit Model, whichestimates households' net earnings after taxes andsocial transfers at different levels of wages. Since therecent introduction of the 500benefit, some householdsface steep marginal tax rates due to the benefit withdrawalrules. Single parents with two children, and second earnerswith one child can expect their income to increase by only30 and 25 percent of the minimum wage, respectively, if theytake up a job at minimum wage. If they must also pay forchildcare, having all adults working can cause losses of upto 30 percent compared with if one adult stayed home.Although the 500program radically contributed to reducingchild poverty, in the absence of complementary reforms,these disincentives could affect more than half a millionhouseholds, disproportionately in the lowest quintile.Vouchers for private childcare have been adopted by somemunicipalities in Poland to counter unmet demand for publicnurseries. A 75 percent subsidy of typical childcare costswould restore the financial viability of low-paying work formothers with young children. Alternative remedies include areform of the eligibility and withdrawal rules of the 500program.