Changes in Spousal Health Insurance Coverage and Female Labor Supply Decisions
Forum for Health Economics and Policy, Forthcoming
Posted: 23 Apr 2009
Date Written: February 17, 2009
Abstract
This study examines the changing relationship between spousal health insurance coverage and labor market outcomes for married women over time as healthcare costs have increased. In particular, I investigate how husbands’ health insurance coverage offers affect wives’ decisions to enter the labor force and work full-time and how this has changed over time. I endeavor to correct for potential biases of these effects by 1) using an instrumental variables model to deal with endogeneity and 2) estimating and netting out likely unobserved heterogeneity biases, such as assortative mating or income effects. Using Current Population Survey data from 1995 to 2005, I find that husband’s employer provided health insurance coverage has a negative effect on wife’s labor supply that has increased (become more negative) over time.
Keywords: employer provided health insurance, female labor supply
JEL Classification: J2, I1
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation