RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Unintended Consequences of Immigration Enforcement: Household Services and High-Educated Mothers’ Work
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 0920-11197R1
DO 10.3368/jhr.0920-11197R1
A1 East, Chloe N.
A1 Velásquez, Andrea
YR 2022
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2022/05/02/jhr.0920-11197R1.abstract
AB Immigration enforcement has intensified in the U.S., however, there is little evidence on its effect on U.S.-born individuals’ labor outcomes. Exploiting the staggered rollout of a large, federal enforcement policy–Secure Communities (SC)–across local areas, we estimate a difference-in-differences model with time and location fixed effects. We find that SC reduced the labor supply of college-educated U.S.-born mothers with young children. If SC exposure occurred when children are below age 3, the negative effects on labor supply persist over time. We further show increased cost of outsourcing household production, due to reduced undocumented immigrants’ labor supply, is an important mechanism.