Does State Caregiver Support Increase Labor Supply? Evidence from Hawaii's Kupuna Caregivers Program

Abstract

I examine whether Hawaii's Kupuna Caregivers Program—the first state-level program in the United States to provide financial assistance to working caregivers of elderly relatives—increased labor force participation among adults in multigenerational households. Using a difference-in-differences design comparing Hawaii to demographically similar control states (California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington) from 2015–2022, I find no evidence that the program increased labor force participation. The point estimate suggests a 2 percentage point decrease in labor force participation among Hawaii adults in multigenerational households relative to control states post-treatment, though pre-trend analysis raises concerns about the parallel trends assumption. These null results are consistent with the program's small scale (serving approximately 100–150 caregivers annually) being insufficient to produce detectable population-level effects. The findings underscore the challenges of evaluating small-scale pilot programs and highlight the need for administrative data to assess program effects on actual participants. \vspace{1em} JEL Codes: J22, J14, I38 \\ Keywords: caregiver support, labor supply, difference-in-differences, Hawaii