Does Public Long-Term Care Insurance Affect Spousal Labor Supply? Evidence from China

This is the replication package of the paper "Does Public Long-Term Care Insurance Affect Spousal Labor Supply? Evidence from China". This study examines whether public long-term care insurance influences spousal labor supply in China, a question that remains underexplored in the literature. Using nationally representative panel data from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we employ a staggered difference-in-differences design combined with propensity score matching to identify causal impacts. Our results show that long-term care insurance increases spousal labor force participation by 17.8 percentage points and annual working hours by 227 hours, with most gains concentrated in self-employment. These effects are accompanied by reduced informal caregiving and increases in physical activity and food consumption, suggesting a reallocation of household time and resources. The impacts are stronger in programs targeting only the severely disabled and offering the cash benefits option. Overall, LTCI extends beyond elderly care, promoting labor market engagement in aging societies.