Labour supply effects of a cash-for-care subsidy

From 1999, all parents in Norway with children aged one to three, who did not attend publicly subsidised daycare, became eligible for a cash-for-care (CFC) subsidy. One effect of the CFC-subsidy was to increase in the relative price of external child care. This article analyses whether the CFC-subsidy has led to a reduction in the labour supply of mothers. A framework for evaluating policy reforms when reforms are equally and nation-wide accessible is put forward. The results show that the CFC-subsidy has reduced women’s labour supply. The results are sustained after controlling for contemporaneous macroeconomic shocks, using a triple difference approach. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2004J13, J18, J22, Labour supply, child care, difference-in-differences-in-differences,