Working Paper: NBER ID: w23471
Authors: Bradley Heim; Ithai Lurie; Kosali Simon
Abstract: We study the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) young adult dependent coverage requirement on labor market-related outcomes, including measures of employment status, job characteristics, and post-secondary education, using a data set of U.S. tax records spanning 2008-2013. We find that the ACA provision did not result in substantial changes in labor market outcomes. Our results show that employment and self-employment were not statistically significantly affected. While we find some evidence of increased likelihood of young adults earning lower wages, not receiving fringe benefits, enrolling as full-time or graduate students, and young men being self-employed, the magnitudes imply extremely small impacts on these outcomes in absolute terms and when compared to other estimates in the literature. These results are consistent with health insurance being less salient to young adults when making labor market decisions compared to other populations.
Keywords: Affordable Care Act; Young Adult Provision; Labor Market Outcomes; Tax Data
JEL Codes: I13; J01
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| ACA Young Adult provision (G52) | overall employment rates (J68) |
| ACA Young Adult provision (G52) | self-employment rates (J23) |
| ACA Young Adult provision (G52) | annual wages (J31) |
| ACA Young Adult provision (G52) | likelihood of working for an employer that offers retirement benefits (J32) |
| ACA Young Adult provision (G52) | likelihood of attending graduate school (I23) |
| availability of parental health insurance (I13) | labor market behaviors (J29) |