Care, Career, and Kinship: Essays in Labour and Family Economics

Abstract

This thesis comprises three empirical essays in labour and family economics that examine how childcare access, income support, and fertility shape labour-market behaviour and household welfare in low- and middle-income settings. Across the essays, I use quasi-experimental variation and large-scale microdata to study how households allocate labour and adjust to policy and demographic change under binding constraints.

The first essay examines how access to part-day kindergarten affects maternal labour supply and intra-household time allocation in Indonesia, where female labour force participation remains low and childcare is predominantly informal. Using an instrumental-variable strategy based on statutory age-eligibility rules, the analysis shows that kindergarten enrolment increases mothers' employment and working hours, with larger responses among less-educated, rural, and lower-income women. These gains are not accompanied by displacement of informal care provided by co-resident adults. Adjustment instead occurs along intergenerational margins within households, with increased school participation and reduced labour force participation among older siblings, particularly girls. Additional work is concentrated in informal and flexible jobs, reflecting the short duration of kindergarten provision.

The second essay studies how the design of unconditional cash transfer programmes shapes labour-market behaviour in Indonesia. Exploiting variation across programme phases implemented during periods of economic stress, the analysis compares transfers based on relatively static welfare indicators with later programmes that incorporated contemporaneous employment information into targeting. Using nationally representative panel data and difference-in-differences and event-study designs, the results show modest labour-market responses that vary with programme design. Programmes that incorporate employment-related information are associated with small reductions in employment and larger declines in formal-sector participation, reflecting behavioural adjustment along margins tied to observable employment characteristics, even when transfers are temporary and modest in size.

The third essay studies how family size affects women's safety within households in Samoa, a high-fertility setting with limited reproductive autonomy. Using nationally representative survey data and an instrumental-variable approach based on same-sex sibling composition, the analysis shows that an additional dependent child increases the likelihood of intimate partner violence, with effects concentrated in physical and sexual abuse. The evidence points to heightened economic pressure, weaker bargaining positions, and constrained agency as important correlates of these outcomes. The findings highlight family size as a consequential, but often overlooked, dimension of intra-household power and welfare in high-fertility contexts. Show more