Impact of the increase in social benefits on paid employment of mothers of children with disabilities: Evidence from Poland

This study examines the impact of the increase in social benefits on the workforce participation of mothers rearing children with disabilities. Since 2010, social policy in Poland has changed, leading to more generous payments from the state to families with children. Based on a large national probability sample from the Household Budget Survey of 2010, 2019, and 2021, the employment rates are examined using population estimates, a measure of information value, and logistic regression. The results reveal that mothers of children with disabilities are much less likely to take up employment than mothers of typically developing children. Over time, this difference has widened. A mother’s education is the most informative predictor of her employment status. Moreover, its predictive power increases, as the less educated tend to quit their jobs and those with tertiary education work more often.