Betreuungsgeld – familienpolitische Leistung oder Hindernis bei der Arbeitsmarktintegration?

Significant gender gaps in labour market participation still exist in most countries. Nevertheless, from 2013 to 2015, there was a nationwide home care allowance for parents who did not use public childcare for children aged one to two years in Germany. Even after 2015, the home care allowance continued to exist in several federal German states. Using data from the Socio-Economic Panel, we exploit the differences in the design of home care allowance between the federal states and examine its effects on the labour market participation of mothers. For both immigrant and native-born mothers, the impact is significantly negative, i.e. such transfers reduce the labour market participation of mothers.