Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/322417 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
ESRI Working Paper No. 799
Publisher: 
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), Dublin
Abstract: 
This research estimates by how much the NCS reduces childcare costs for families who use formal childcare in Ireland. The cost 'coverage' of the subsidy, measured by the ratio of the subsidy to the total cost of care, is estimated using the microsimulation model, SWITCH, linked to 2022 data from the Survey of Income and Living Conditions. While the universal component of the NCS has increased over time, most of the parameters of the means-tested component have remained fixed in nominal terms. We carry out a counterfactual simulation, in which the thresholds for the income assessed subsidy had evolved in line with wage inflation since 2019. Our results show the scale of benefit erosion that has occurred due to the nominal freeze to these parameters.
Subjects: 
childcare
benefit erosion
policy analysis
JEL: 
J13
H23
H24
I32
I38
C81
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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