Benefits or work? Social programs and labor supply

An individual’s decision to work is affected by several things. For example how the individual value her time, the wage the individual can get, and what other income sources that is available for the individual. The incentives to work are thereby also affected by the design of different social programs.

In this thesis I will empirically evaluate four different policies and how they affect labor supply. The first essay studies how parental leave affects the labor force participation of immigrant mothers. The second essay evaluates how access to childcare affects unemployed parents´ job finding rates. The two last essays concern effects of workfare, where the third essay studies the effect on job finding rates for old long-term unemployed, and the fourth essay studies the effect on entry and exit rates to social assistance.