In this paper we exploit a cohort specific pension reform to estimate the causal employment effect of changes in the financial incentives to retire. In particular we analyze the effect of the introduction of pension deductions for early retirement on female employment. For the empirical analysis...

Numerous studies analyze gender wage differences focusing on gross hourly wages. The analysis of differences in gross wages allows statements on productivity differences between men and women and to quantify the unexplainable wage gap which is often attributed to discrimination. While there is...

Germany introduced a new mandatory insurance for long-term care in 1995. It replaced a system based on means-tested transfers. The new scheme made it easier for households to draw benefits and to organize informal care. We exploit this reform as a natural experiment and examine its effect on the...

We analyse preferences for public, private or mixed provision of childcare theoretically and empirically. We model childcare as a publicly provided private good. Richer households should prefer private provision to either pure public or mixed provision. If public provision redistributes from...

This paper analyzes the question why desired and actual sharing of market work and family duties among parents with young children in Germany fall apart. Potential explanations include financial incentives favoring the single-earner model, as well as constraints in choosing working hours due to...

In August 2013, two child care reforms have come into effect at the same time: First, a legal claim to formal child care has been introduced for all children aged one year or older. Second, a new benefit called Betreuungsgeld has been introduced that is granted to families who do not use public...