Discuss the effect of the following public policies on the supply of labor. If there is a difference, discuss how the effect varies over time (e.g., now versus in the future) or across different groups of people.
a. Allowing a tax credit for childcare expenses.
b. Providing Social Security benefits to retired women who worked outside the home for less than 10 years, with the size of the payment dependent on their husbands’ earnings history. (In fact, they receive benefits equal to 50 percent of their husbands’ Social Security benefit. When answering, you may ignore the fact that the government has to pay for these benefits.)
c. Paying a $10,000 bonus to women who give birth to a third child. (Note: The Japanese government has recently instituted this policy—along with a series of other subsidies for child-rearing—in an effort to reverse the rapid decrease in fertility rates there.)
d. Allowing taxpayers to deduct the expenses associated with relocating in order to work at a new job.