Taxes and the Timing of Births

Posted: 19 Jan 1999

See all articles by Stacy Dickert-Conlin

Stacy Dickert-Conlin

Syracuse University - Center for Policy Research

Amitabh Chandra

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Abstract

Because the tax savings of having a child are realized only if the birth takes place before midnight, January 1, the incentives for the "marginal" birth are substantial. Using a sample of children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we find that the probability that a child is born in the last week of December, rather than the first week of January, is positively correlated with tax benefits. We estimate that increasing the tax benefit of having a child by $500 raises the probability of having the child in the last week of December by 26.9 percent.

JEL Classification: H29, J13

Suggested Citation

Dickert-Conlin, Stacy and Chandra, Amitabh, Taxes and the Timing of Births. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=142470

Stacy Dickert-Conlin (Contact Author)

Syracuse University - Center for Policy Research ( email )

Syracuse, NY 13244
United States
315-443-3232 (Phone)
315-443-1081 (Fax)

Amitabh Chandra

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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