Carefree? Participation and Pay Differentials for Informal Carers in Britain

54 Pages Posted: 31 Aug 2004

See all articles by Axel Heitmueller

Axel Heitmueller

London Business School; Prime Minister's Strategy Unit; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Kirsty Inglis

Government of the United Kingdom - Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

Date Written: August 2004

Abstract

A substantial proportion of working age individuals in Britain are looking after sick, disabled, and elderly people and combine work and caring responsibilities. Using the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) for the years 1991 to 2002 this paper studies the determinants of labour market participation as well as earnings differentials for informal carers and non-carers over time. In particular, the paper decomposes participation and wage differentials for non-carers and carers and shows that carers are systematically disadvantaged. Furthermore, opportunity costs from forgone wages and wage discrimination are estimated and found to be substantial.

Keywords: decomposition, fixed effects model, Markov transition, opportunity costs

JEL Classification: J70, J31, J40, C23

Suggested Citation

Heitmueller, Axel and Heitmueller, Axel and Inglis, Kirsty, Carefree? Participation and Pay Differentials for Informal Carers in Britain (August 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=585306 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.585306

Axel Heitmueller (Contact Author)

London Business School ( email )

Sussex Place
Regent's Park
London, London NW1 4SA
United Kingdom

Prime Minister's Strategy Unit ( email )

Admiralty Arch
London, SW1A 2WH
United Kingdom

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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

Kirsty Inglis

Government of the United Kingdom - Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) ( email )

London SW1A 2AA
United Kingdom

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