Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Beginning in early 1980s a series of federally mandated expansions extended public health insurance coverage to certain groups of children. This legislation generated substantial variation in eligibility for public health insurance coverage based on the state of residence, calendar year, and current age of the child. Using generalized differences in differences this paper exploits this variation to estimate the effects of public health insurance eligibility of children on various labor market outcomes of their mothers. The results show that public health insurance eligibility is associated with positive effects on labor supply at the intensive margin (hours of work on the job) but not at the extensive margin (participation in the labor force).