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Child Care Subsidies, Quality, and Optimal Income Taxation

Author

Listed:
  • Spencer Bastani
  • Sören Blomquist
  • Luca Micheletto
Abstract
In this paper we examine the desirability of subsidizing child care expenditures in a model where parents can choose both the quantity and the quality of child care services they purchase in the market. Our vehicle of analysis is a Mirrleesian optimal tax framework where child care services not only enable parents to work, but also contribute to children’s formation of human capital. In addition, there are externalities related to the parents’ choice of child care arrangements for their offspring. Using a quantitative simulation model calibrated to the US economy, we evaluate the relative merits of some the most common forms of child care subsidies (tax deductions, tax credits, and opting-out public provision schemes) in terms of their effectiveness in alleviating the distortions associated with income taxation and increasing the quality of child care chosen by parents.

Suggested Citation

  • Spencer Bastani & Sören Blomquist & Luca Micheletto, 2017. "Child Care Subsidies, Quality, and Optimal Income Taxation," CESifo Working Paper Series 6533, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6533
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    Cited by:

    1. Spencer Bastani & Sebastian Koehne, 2022. "How Should Consumption Be Taxed?," CESifo Working Paper Series 10038, CESifo.
    2. Francesca Barigozzi & Helmuth Cremer & Emmanuel Thibault, 2024. "The motherhood wage and income traps," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(4), pages 1-26, December.
    3. Spencer Bastani & Sören Blomquist & Luca Micheletto, 2020. "Pareto efficient income taxation without single-crossing," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 55(3), pages 547-594, October.
    4. Volker Meier & Matthew D. Rablen, 2024. "Political economy of redistribution between traditional and modern families," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(4), pages 980-1008, August.
    5. Spencer Bastani & Thomas Giebe & Oliver Gürtler, 2023. "Overconfidence and Gender Equality in the Labor Market," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 220, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    6. Koehne, Sebastian & Sachs, Dominik, 2022. "Pareto-improving reforms of tax deductions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    7. Sebastian Koehne & Dominik Sachs, 2019. "Pareto-efficient Tax Deductions," CESifo Working Paper Series 7744, CESifo.
    8. Takuya Obara & Yoshitomo Ogawa, 2020. "Optimal Taxation in an Endogenous Fertility Model with Non-Cooperative Couples," Discussion Paper Series 211, School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University, revised Jan 2021.
    9. Spencer Bastani & Sören Blomquist & Luca Micheletto, 2019. "Nonlinear and piecewise linear income taxation, and the subsidization of work-related goods," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(4), pages 806-834, August.
    10. Gerhard Glomm & Volker Meier, 2020. "Efficient child care subsidies: any need for cash for care?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 773-793, September.
    11. Alessandra Casarico & Elena Del Rey & Jose I. Silva, 2023. "Child care costs, household liquidity constraints, and gender inequality," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1461-1487, July.
    12. Takuya Obara & Yoshitomo Ogawa, 2024. "Optimal taxation in an endogenous fertility model with non-cooperative behavior," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 173-197, March.
    13. David Koll & Dominik Sachs & Fabian Stürmer-Heiber & Hélène Turon, 2024. "Quantifying Okun’s Leaky Bucket: The Case of Progressive Childcare Subsidies," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2024_570, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    14. Thomas Aronsson & Spencer Bastani & Khayyam Tayibov, 2021. "Social Exclusion and Optimal Redistribution," CESifo Working Paper Series 9448, CESifo.
    15. Robert Scherf & Matthew Weinzierl, 2020. "Understanding Different Approaches to Benefit‐Based Taxation," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 385-410, June.
    16. Tayibov, Khayyam, 2024. "Tagging Birthplace for Optimal Tax Policy, Redistribution, and Welfare," Working Papers in Economics and Statistics 9/2024, Linnaeus University, School of Business and Economics, Department of Economics and Statistics.
    17. Ho Christine, 2019. "Optimal Disability Insurance with Informal Child Care," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 1-42, April.
    18. David Koll & Dominik Sachs & Fabian Stuermer-Heiber & Helene Turon, 2019. "The fiscal return to childcare policies," 2019 Meeting Papers 1081, Society for Economic Dynamics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    optimal income taxation; child care subsidies; tax deductibility; tax credit; public provision of private goods;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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