Labor Force Supply Decisions of Rural Low-Income Mothers

摘要

Employment is crucial to the economic well-being of families. Using a multi-state sample of 412 rurallow-income mothers, our study identifies factors influenc-ing two employment decisions they make: labor force entryand number of hours supplied. A logistic regression modelcorrectly predicted 80% of mothers' work participationdecisions. Employed mothers were older, better educated,and less likely to suffer from depression; as well as, morelikely to have a driver's license and receive child careassistance and the Earned Income Tax Credit. An estimatedlabor supply function explained 33% of the variation inhours worked by the 208 employed rural mothers. Higherwages, availability of health insurance, and overtime ben-efits predicted the number of hours they were willing towork.