Caregiving and Labor Supply: New Evidence from Administrative Data

A significant share of the rapidly growing demand for long-term care is met by family members, many of whom also work, and family caregiving has been shown to affect labor market outcomes. We use survey responses about family caregiving roles linked to administrative earnings records to estimate the employment trajectories of family caregivers over a 25-year period around the reported start of a caregiving episode. These trajectories vary significantly by gender. Relative to a matched comparison group, caregiving precipitates a drop in both earnings and employment for women, while men enter caregiving only after experiencing significant labor supply disruptions.