Hidden support: long-term care insurance and women’s entrepreneurship

This study examines the impact of China’s Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) policy on women’s entrepreneurship. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies over 2012–2020, we implement a staggered difference-in-differences design to estimate the causal effect of LTCI pilot implementation on women’s entrepreneurship. We find that LTCI significantly increases women’s likelihood of becoming entrepreneurs, with larger effects among households with lower wealth and those in which older family members are in poorer health. lowering young women’s perceived exposure to future risks and easing the caregiving demands they face within the family, thereby strengthening both their willingness and ability to engage in entrepreneurial activity. We further explore spillover effects on intrahousehold allocation and intergenerational outcomes. LTCI not only promotes women’s entrepreneurship but also narrows gender income disparities and improves children’s cognitive and non-cognitive development. Overall, our findings provide policy-relevant evidence for strengthening long-term care institutions and for designing complementary policies that advance women’s economic participation and gender equality.