Early child care and labor supply of lower-SES mothers: A randomized controlled trial

Henning Hermes, Marina Krauß, Philipp Lergetporer, Frauke Peter and Simon Wiederhold ()

No 394, DICE Discussion Papers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE)

Abstract: We present experimental evidence that enabling access to universal early child care for families with lower socioeconomic status (SES) increases maternal labor supply. Our intervention provides families with customized help for child care applications, resulting in a large increase in enrollment among lower-SES families. The treatment increases lower-SES mothers' full-time employment rates by 9 percentage points (+160%), household income by 10%, and mothers' earnings by 22%. The effect on full-time employment is largely driven by increased care hours provided by child care centers and fathers. Overall, the treatment substantially improves intra-household gender equality in terms of child care duties and earnings.

Keywords: child care; maternal employment; gender equality; randomized controlled trial (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D90 J13 J18 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-exp and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Early Child Care and Labor Supply of Lower-SES Mothers: A Randomized Controlled Trial (2023)
Working Paper: Early Child Care and Labor Supply of Lower-SES Mothers: A Randomized Controlled Trial (2022)
Working Paper: Early Child Care and Labor Supply of Lower-SES Mothers: A Randomized Controlled Trial (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:dicedp:394

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