Labor Market and Welfare Effects of Family Policy – A Microsimulation Study für Germany 

Fritz Thyssen Stiftung

The aim of this research project was to empirically analyze the incentive as well as welfare effects of different family policy reforms that have been discussed in the past years. The starting point for this study is a detailed analysis of the current system of family support and its effects on household labor supply and welfare. The challenge in this empirical analysis is the adequate modelling of the very complex tax-benefit system and the interactions between different support systems and taxes. Thus, we extended the tax-benefit model STSM within this project. Using this model, net household income can be calculated for all households under different reform scenarios, which is the prerequisite for an empirical analysis of potential labor supply and welfare effects.

Beblo, Miriam, Charlotte Lauer and Katharina Wrohlich (2005): Ganztagsschulen und Erwerbstätigkeit von Müttern – Eine Mikrosimulationsstudie für Deutschland. Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung, Themenheft „Arbeitsmarktinstitutionen und Beschäftigung“ (2005) Jg. 38, Nr. 2+3, S. 357-372.

Dearing Helene, Helmut Hofer, Christine Lietz, Rudolf Winter-Ebmer and Katharina Wrohlich (2007): Why are mothers working longer hours in Austria than in Germany? A Comparative Microsimulation Analysis. DIW Discussionspaper No. 695 (PDF, 301.74 KB), Berlin; forthcoming in Fiscal Studies.

Geyer, Johannes und Viktor Steiner (2007): Short-Run and Long-Term Effects of Childbirth on Mothers’ Employment and Working Hours Across Institutional Regimes. An Empirical Analysis based on the European Community Household Panel, DIW Discussionspaper No. 682 (PDF, 0.88 MB)

Steiner, Viktor and Katharina Wrohlich (2006a): Familienpolitische Reformen und ihre Wirkungen auf die Erwerbsbeteiligung von Eltern. Zeitschrift für Sozialreform, Schwerpunktheft „Familie im Lebensverlauf: Akzente für eine nachhaltige Familienpolitik“ (2006) vol.52, No. 4, pp. 421-438.

Steiner, Viktor and Katharina Wrohlich (2008): Introducing Family Tax Splitting in Germany: How Would it Affect the Income Distribution, Work Incentives and Households’ Welfare?”

Steiner, Viktor and Katharina Wrohlich (2006c): Familiensplitting begünstigt einkommenstarke Familien, kaum Auswirkungen auf das Arbeitsangebot. DIW Wochenbericht, Jg. 73, Nr. 31 (PDF, 238.37 KB)., pp. 441-449.

Spieß, C. Katharina and Katharina Wrohlich (2005a): Wieviele Kinderbetreuungsplätze fehlen in Deutschland? Neue Bedarfsermittlung für Kinder unter drei Jahren auf der Basis von Mikrodaten. DIW Wochenbericht, Jg. 72, Nr. 14 (PDF, 133.79 KB)., pp. 223-227.

Spieß, C. Katharina and Katharina Wrohlich (2005b): Kindertageseinrichtungen: Bedarf und nachhaltige Finanzierung. Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte No. 23-24/2005, pp. 30-37.

Wrohlich, Katharina (2006): Labor Supply and Child Care Choices in a Rationed Child Care Market. DIW Discussionspaper 570 (PDF, 334.42 KB).

Wrohlich, Katharina (2007): The Excess Demand for Subsidized Child Care in Germany. DIW Discussionspaper 470 (PDF, 0.75 MB). Forthcoming in: Applied Economics