Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Honors Thesis (Open Access)
Department
Colby College. Economics Dept.
Advisor(s)
Samara Gunter
Abstract
This paper investigates the effect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) on time spent doing household work in married or cohabiting households with children. Using American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data from before and after the implementation of the TCJA, I conduct a difference-in-differences analysis to determine the effect of the CTC expansion on time spent on all household chores, on historically female household chores, on historically male household chores, and on childcare. Then, using an adapted version of Bargain’s (2008) collective utility model, I simulate the TCJA expansion of the CTC and I calibrate the model for the household bargaining power of men and women. While my model predicts that an expansion of the CTC would cause women in the phase-in region of the CTC to slightly decrease their time on household chores and men in the phase-in region of the CTC to slightly increase their time on household chores, my difference-in-differences analysis does not indicate a significant change in time spent on household chores as a result of the TCJA expansion of the CTC and the calibrations of my model do not indicate a significant change in bargaining power as a result of the TCJA expansion of the CTC.
Keywords
Bargaining Power, Household Production, Household Chore Distribution, Time Use
Recommended Citation
Barrett, Joseph M., "The Effect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 Expansion of the Child Tax Credit on the Distribution of Household Chores" (2024). Honors Theses. Paper 1463.https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/honorstheses/1463