We examine whether financial incentives affect fertility and family planning. We use a reform reducing child benefits paid to larger families together with Danish longitudinal register data on the universe of legal abortions and birth control pill purchases to address this question. We find that...

This paper examines how access to informal insurance shapes family responses to reductions in social welfare benefits, and how these adjustments affect children's development. In 2003, Israel reformed its child allowance program, significantly reducing unconditional cash benefits for large...

This research estimates by how much the NCS reduces childcare costs for families who use formal childcare in Ireland. The cost 'coverage' of the subsidy, measured by the ratio of the subsidy to the total cost of care, is estimated using the microsimulation model, SWITCH, linked to 2022 data from...

This paper examines how access to informal insurance shapes family responses to reductions in social welfare benefits, and how these adjustments affect children's development. In 2003, Israel reformed its child allowance program, significantly reducing unconditional cash benefits for large...

Non-take-up of welfare schemes is a key concern of policy effectiveness. Building on studies that have shown the low take-up of minimum income schemes, our case study of Ireland's Working Family Payment is the first to analyse non-take-up of an in-work benefit and its determinants with a special...

This paper analyzes the welfare implications of children’s enfranchisement within a political economy framework that emphasizes the trade-offs in public policy when the electorate includes different age groups. Public spending is financed by tax revenues, meaning that higher spending on...

This report provides an overview of the export of family benefits for the reference year 2022. Family benefits were transferred to more than 1.1 million family members residing in another EU/EFTA country or the UK. On average, 2.6 % of the total family benefits were paid to persons residing in...

We study the fertility effects of the 1997 Quebec Family Policy, which introduced universal childcare and simultaneously ended its newborn allowance. Using a 20% sample of Canadian tax returns, we find that the reform reduced overall fertility at the intensive margin but had varying impacts by...

In this paper, we examine reforms that alleviate large employment disincentives induced by child-related transfers for married mothers. We develop a life-cycle model where married couples face labor market, child care and fertility risk, and make joint labor supply and consumption-saving...

Using a semiparametric event study approach with a control group, we estimate the effect of motherhood on labor market outcomes in Germany, the child penalty. We further investigate how the 2007 parental benefits reform changed the child penalty while accounting for fertility effects. A large...

The 2021 Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion increased government benefits to families, and especially to families with the lowest incomes. Economic theory predicts that this policy intervention would have led to a reduction in labor supply among adults in those families. Our review of available...

Using a semiparametric event study approach with a control group, we estimate the effect of motherhood on labor market outcomes in Germany, the child penalty. We further investigate how the 2007 parental benefits reform changed the child penalty while accounting for fertility effects. A large...

The Child and Dependent Care Credit (CDCC), a tax credit based on income and child care expenses, reduces child care costs for working families. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act expanded the CDCC in 2003, generating differential increases in generosity across states and...

Social Protection strategies aim to build resilience against various shocks and risks. Adaptive social protection incorporates shock responsiveness to foster adaptive capacity through preparedness, coping mechanisms, and adaptation strategies. Safety nets and universal child benefits are...

The extent of social protection provided to families with children varies according to each country's unique economic, social, and demographic conditions. The most important factors for assessing social protection were studied and identified by means of the multivariate statistical analysis...

In the last decade, two major disruptions - the Great Recession and the Covid sanitary crisis - hit the world economy and gave rise to a battery of government measures. In Portugal, after the fiscal consolidation efforts implemented to tackle the severe sovereign debt crisis that accompanied the...

I study fertility adjustments after the introduction of a large universal child benefit in Poland. The program caused a six percent increase in the number of births. Patterns of selection into parenthood changed significantly and persistently, with a weakening of positive selection based on...

This study examines the impact of changes in the social benefits system on the wellbeing, poverty, and economic activity in Poland. The core element of those changes was a programme of large cash transfers, referred to as Family 500+, introduced in 2016. It was intended to support families with...

Work requirements are perhaps the most controversial aspect of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, America's sole federal cash assistance program for lowincome families with children. In 2025, for the first time in nearly 20 years, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023...