Beliefs about Maternal Labour Supply

• Authors: Teodora Boneva, Marta Golin, Katja Kaufmann and Christopher Rauh
• Economic Journal, Vol. 136, No. 674, 373 - 401, February 2026

We provide representative evidence on the perceived returns to maternal labour supply. A mother’s decision to work is perceived to have sizeable impacts on child skills, family outcomes, and the mother’s future labour market outcomes. Beliefs about the impact of additional household income can account for some, but not all, of the perceived positive effects. We further document labour supply intentions under different policy scenarios related to childcare availability and quality, two factors that are perceived as important. Finally, we show that perceived returns are predictive of labour supply intentions, over and above what can be explained by other factors.