Information about Inequality in Early Child Care Reduces Polarization in Policy Preferences

Henning Hermes, Philipp Lergetporer, Fabian Mierisch, Guido Schwerdt and Simon Wiederhold ()

No 10925, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: We investigate public preferences for equity-enhancing policies in access to early child care, using a survey experiment with a representative sample of the German population (n ≈ 4, 800). We observe strong misperceptions about migrant-native inequalities in early child care that vary by respondents’ age and right-wing voting preferences. Randomly providing information about the actual extent of inequalities has a nuanced impact on the support for equity-enhancing policy reforms: it increases support for respondents who initially underestimated these inequalities, and tends to decrease support for those who initially overestimated them. This asymmetric effect leads to a more consensual policy view, substantially decreasing the polarization in policy support between under- and overestimators. Our results suggest that correcting misperceptions can align public policy preferences, potentially leading to less polarized debates about how to address inequalities and discrimination.

Keywords: child care; policy support; information; inequality; discrimination; survey experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C99 D83 I24 J13 J18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Working Paper: Information about Inequality in Early Child Care Reduces Polarization in Policy Preferences (2024)
Working Paper: Information about Inequality in Early Child Care Reduces Polarization in Policy Preferences (2024)
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