(Not) Thinking About the Future: Financial Information and Maternal Labor Supply*

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Costa-Ramon, Ana; Slotwinski, Michaela; Schaede, Ursina; Brenoe, Anne Ardila
• 署名单位: University of Zurich; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; University of Neuchatel; University of Basel; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; Tufts University
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjag003
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: Parental leave; gender-gap; retirement; mothers; ECONOMICS; inference; returns; women

摘要

Does information about the long-run financial costs of reduced labor supply increase mothers' working hours? We document descriptively that long-term financial factors are not top of mind when mothers decide on their employment level. Moreover, a substantial share of women holds overly optimistic expectations about pension receipt and wage growth under part-time work. In a large-scale field experiment in Switzerland, we randomly assign mothers working part-time as teachers to receive objective information about the long-run costs of reduced labor supply. The treatment increases both demand for financial information and future labor supply plans, in particular among women who underestimate the costs of part-time work. Leveraging linked employer administrative data one year post-intervention, we find that this group of mothers increases working hours by 7%. These findings underscore that policies reducing information frictions in labor supply decisions may help address remaining gender gaps in the labor market.