We study the effects of motherhood on self-employed women’s business activity, and the moderating role of maternity benefits.
Using rich administrative data from the Netherlands, we first document that childbirth reduces the business revenue of self-employed women by about 50\% in the quarter of birth and 25\% subsequently. We then study the introduction of a flat-rate maternity cash benefit for the self-employed.
Exploiting variation in benefit eligibility by birth month, we estimate that mothers eligible for the benefit further reduce their business revenue and income in the first two years after childbirth. The decrease in business income amounts to approximately half of the benefit amount, leading to an overall increase in household income. Eligible mothers likely spend more time with their child, as the use of formal daycare is significantly reduced. Lastly, we assess the effects of benefit eligibility on the well-being of mothers and their children.
While we find no impact on household composition or maternal health, the benefit does reduce health expenditures and medicine use among children in their first year after birth, although not in the long run.
Fabrizio Core is Assistant Professor of Finance at LUISS University. Prior to joining LUISS, he was Assistant Professor of Finance in the Finance Group in the Business Economics Department at ESE Rotterdam, and also an associate member of ERIM (Erasmus Research Institute of Management) and Candidate Fellow of Tinbergen Institute.
He holds a PhD in Finance from The London School of Economics and Political Science. His research interests lie in the fields of Entrepreneurial Finance, Banking, and Empirical Corporate Finance.
The seminar will be held in English.
Major Information: Giulia Baschieri (giulia.baschieri@unibo.it).